disregarding the dangers of cosmetic surgery in their quest for this holy grail of "beauty."The power of Wolf's observations leads one to hope that someone will do similar research concerning the media's impact on men. Our culture teaches women they can't be happy unless they are "beautiful," but it also teaches men they can't be happy unless they are rich and/or powerful. Men have gotten off somewhat easy so far because there is no generic rich and powerful "look" to portray in the media--rich and powerful men come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. The only way to portray it is to put a man in rich and powerful-looking surroundings and hope the connection is made. However, now that the baby-boom generation is growing into middle age, I believe we'll see men being targeted more and more to look a certain way. We're already seeing ads for men's hair coloring and hair replacement.This book is important to all because we need to become much more aware of how prevalent and damaging this kind of media influence is. It is very insidious--so much so that we accept it's pronouncements without a thought. Energy that could be used to further personal and cultural goals is dissipated in feelings of self-doubt and self-hatred. How many people have gotten excited about a new project and then thought, "Who am I to do that? They'll think I'm too old, too fat, too wierd-looking..." We are often turned away from our true soul paths toward worshiping false gods instead: the perfect face, body, or the brass ring at the top of the corporate ladder. Women and men need to wake up to the fact that there are forces in our culture who's only goal is to make you feel bad about yourself--so you'll buy the "new season" of clothing, hair coloring, or membership in the health club, etc., etc., etc. Who's gonna win folks? Us or them???...
