The Man Behind the Curtain

"Verbal Abuse is insidious.
Verbal Abuse is endemic.
Verbal Abuse impacts millions of people.
Verbal Abuse and its denial are crazy-making.
Verbal Abuse usually occurs in secret."

The world of abuse is one of darkness and secret suffering--a world into which no one is eager to enter. Yet, there exists a group of young women in today's pop culture that has. Its membership is only increasing, and these young women don't even know it.

How is it possible that one can be led into doing something against one's will, yet somehow be made to believe it was done out of personal choice? Who is the man behind the curtain? The media. Who is the face of Oz? The glossy spreads of the chic Cosmo and Vogue. Young girls open these treasure boxes of beauty and glamour. Page after page, they dip their fingers into the dripping pools of materialism, fantasy, and sex appeal. At a crucial time in one's life, adolescents begin a quest of self discovery. Asking the question, "Who am I supposed to be?," they are gladly answered by headlines of "Change Your Body in 10 Days," "Make Him Crave You," and "Bedroom Moves You Must Master." If you are not model material, a sex goddess, or picture perfect, you are not good enough, and something must be done. Conveniently, advertisements for diet pills, plastic surgery, and cosmetics await your beckon call.

Despite convincing facades of integrity and virtue, it is common knowledge that the priority of all businesses, including magazines, is to maximize profits. To what extent, however, will one go? What are the costs of its victims? Do the ends truly justify the means? Temporarily violating my boycott of pop culture magazines, I recently picked up the December issue of Cosmopolitan for examination. I braced myself for anger and disgust. My low expectations were somehow too high for the racy and degrading content which I encountered. All in the same magazine, I found the following: an article on physical fitness, followed by advertisements for brownies and cookies, humorously followed by an article on why Americans can't stick to diets and fitness regimens. In addition, there were multiple advertisements for diet pills, followed by an article on the danger of such pills. Yes, furrow your brows and scratch your temples. Does the media care about its readers? I think not. If this is not proof of the media's revolting priority of profit over people, I don't know what is.

If verbal abuse is indeed insiduous, epidemic, and secretive, media's messages are nothing short of it. Young girls are increasingly turning to magazines and television, which is on for an average of seven hours in the American household. It is of no surprise that more than eight million Americans suffer from eating disorders, whose ages begin from as early as seven years old. Over 11.5 million cosmetic procedures were performed during 2006, an alarming 446 percent increase since 1997. Starvation and going under the knife are hardly pleasant thoughts; but participation is increasing. Verbally abused by the media, women resort to abusing themselves. This hardly makes sense, and one may wonder why women insist on buying into the constant pressure of the media's magazines. The answer is simple. They are seemingly harmless--a mere source of leisure and entertainment. The reality? They are quite the opposite. This cycle of abuse is going to continue to gain momentum at the powerful hand of the media. Unless we enjoy such a lifestyle, we must bring this cycle to a crashing halt.