America’s media industry sells its audience (both young and old, male and female) an unattainable standard of beauty.
In the words of Tina Fey, “Every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.”
Fey is joking, of course, but what makes her diatribe funny is that her critique of America’s body image problem is grounded in truth. This country’s beauty ideal is so set in stone, we found it almost hard to believe when we heard that women in the Mauritanian culture actually strive to gain weight, as being plus-sized is preferred.