American Obsession With Appearance Essay

Americans are obsessed with appearance due to their surroundings and the prevalence of the media in everyday life. Celebrities are idolized and seen as societies version of "perfection". Ways of editing and distorting like photoshop have become prominent in the media. These things shove the idea of perfection in the faces of impressionable Americans because we are so exposed to it. We see perfectly straight, white teeth, stick thin figures, flawless complexion all over magazines and movies. These set up unrealistic and unattainable expectations for appearance. Certain trends may also contribute to the obsession with looks. Trends in makeup such as filled in eyebrows, over lined lips, false lashes, etc, become popular and may make Americans feel like this is the picture perfect idea of beauty and
I feel Americans are self centered because it is seen as more successful to be rich and famous than to contribute to society as a whole. Many people are more interested in personal gain than helping others. Also, with the increase in technology in social media, people spend more time alone behind a screen than actually interacting with people. This deprives people of experience in developing social skills like compassion for others, consideration, empathy, etc. This causes people to be more self centered rather than oriented towards others. The increase in obsession with perfection and looks causes people to focus more on themselves and perfecting themselves. People will wear makeup, get plastic surgery, use diet pills, etc to attain their idea of perfection. This will cause them to become obsessed with the idea of themselves and their