My Independent Study

There was a saying once that you can achieve anything 'if Your face fits' , in other words if a person was beautiful then there would be endless oppurtunities for them to suceed in life. Does that saying hold any weight in todays society? or is it a person's personality and intellect that counts now a days. In my med 5 independent study i will scrutinize the fact whether or not the media maniupulates and exploits young women in particualr to be 'self image obsessed'. Can the media be so intimidating that it can mould young women to look in a specific way and brainwash them to ignore the health implications to having a media worthy image.

I have been influenced to research on this topic by 'Ugly Betty'(2007) a series on channel 4, which shows how an unattractive women is manipulated by the media. It shows her struggles to cope in a glamerous environment. The reason why i chose this text is because statistics show that illnesses such as bulimia and anorexia is on the increase within young women and my question has media got a part to play in this?