The Media - Image Maker or Societal Messenger?

"Don't hate me because I am beautiful." A famous tag line from a shampoo commercial. Funny thing about the commercial is that I can't remember the brand of shampoo the ad men and women were trying to sell, nor the actress that spoke those lines. I have to admit I did use Google to do a quick bit of detective work to find that it was Pantene and the actress was Kelly LeBrock. The words stuck with me and, based on my Google search, many others in this world because they are still talking about that tag line. The notion that women would actually not like another woman because she was considered beautiful because of her physical appearance has stuck with our societal consciousness for almost twenty years since the airing of this commercial. Is this an example of the power of the media to create a behavior or is it the power we as a society can give words and images if we so choose buy into these created notions?

"I never know if guys like me for who I am or because I am so pretty." A line from a recent Ugly Betty episode. Truth be told, at some point in our lives, we do question why we are liked or loved by at least one individual. It is that great turning point in most love stories played out on the small or large screen. Remember Julia Roberts superstar character to Hugh Grant's simple bookstar character declaring that despite her celebrity status she was, "...just a girl looking to be loved...." Are these examples of the media having the power to put an idea into the heads of young girls and women or is the media giving power into our laps by letting our greatest insecurities out of the bag so that we no longer have to feel so alone and isolated in the world? Their is great strength in knowing that there are others out there that we can share our feelings and experiences...it allows us to grow.

So The Beautiful Women Project leaves you with these thoughts: Does the media have the power over society to change ideas and create behavior or is the media simply reflecting back onto society what is really going on but don't want to talk about out loud?