I. How many times a day do you look in the mirror criticizing your appearance for its unique qualities? Your truly unique qualities are often considered flaws because they don't meet society's expectations or approval. Imagine being bombarded and suffocated by a plethora of advertisements that indirectly send messages that you are not good enough and that only their products can and will help you achieve such an impossible goal of perfection. The reality of this is very true today. Everywhere in the world, every race, every gender, every age, every ethnicity is influenced by the obsession with appearance. People are exposed and exploited by so many factors in society, encouraging people to believe that we must become what we see and are told to be, making drastic measures an option to the point of becoming an unhealthy obsession. People obsessed with their appearance, taking desperate measures, achieving unattainable perfection is more than just an individual problem; it is a social, national and global problem. Obsessions with appearance are not just a personal responsibility but a social issue, which requires a social solution. This issue has made its way among younger and younger generations, proposing a ripple effect of many other issues throughout society. Many argue that this only affects girls, but it also affects boys, although they are increasingly likely to use steroids and other dangerous drugs (“eating disorders”). The desire to have a lean and muscular body has found its way among younger males in middle school (Quenqa). This effort has led to an increase in steroid use, posing many other dangers to developing bodies. The number of teenage bodybuilders has decreased because they fail drug tests (Quenqa). Copious amounts of... half of document......health and human services, July 1999. Web. November 29, 2013. United States. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. “For obese children, weight loss can sometimes lead to eating disorders.” Medline Plus. Health Day, September 2013. Web. November 27, 2013. United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Investigations. “Mean Body Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index, United States 1960-2002.” CENTER FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL. Department of Health and Human Services, October 2004. Web. November 29, 2013. United States. Department of Justice. Federal Communications Commission. "Media and childhood obesity." Reboot. FCC, 2010. Web. November 29, 2013. Volpe, Michaela. “Beyond a Lifetime Comparison: A Sociological Self-Exploration of Body Image Obsession.” Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge 9.2 (2011): 37+. Academic OneFile. Network. November 27. 2013.