You don't have to look long to find it. It can be found by turning on the television, watching a movie, opening a magazine or walking past a billboard. She is young, slim, tall and, according to the media, attractive. It has no name, but it is what women strive to be; she is the model of beauty. However, not even the model can reach these high standards. Lighting, makeup, angles, photography skills, makeup and photo editing manipulate the model into a symbol of social standards. The media reinforces unrealistic body image ideals. This representation of the perfect body is constantly thrown out there for the public to see. As Jordan (2003) states, “Barbie dolls and GI Joe action figures, the sculpted mannequins gracing store windows, the professional models seen in fashion catalogs and health club advertisements – all suggest consumers everyday an idealized notion of beauty and serves as a model for desirable bodies” (p. 250). Some argue that this continual assault on impossible standards causes lowered self-esteem and eating disorders (Conley, 2011). Our culture forces us to believe that we must follow a set of beauty and image standards to achieve happiness. This leads us to consider models as people to emulate (Poorani, 2012). The media “not only reflect the underlying culture that produced them, but also create desires and narratives that enter women's lives with causal force” (Conley, 2011, p. 101). Bissell and Rask (2010) propose that women may still believe that body image standards offered by the media are ideal for them, even if they recognize that these images and models have been altered or manipulated. What makes this even more problematic is the fact that the perfect body changes over time. For example, Marilyn... center of the card... factors. American Communication Journal, 14(2), 41-57.Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2012). Understanding sexual objectification: A comprehensive approach to girls' media exposure and internalization of beauty ideals, self-objectification, and body surveillance. Journal of Communication, 62(5), 869-887. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01667.xVitak, J., & McLaughlin, C. (2011, May). A picture is worth a thousand words, but friendships matter more. Paper presented at the 61st Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Boston, MA.Wang, X. (2010). Much more than just anorexia and steroid abuse: Effects of media exposure on attitudes toward body image and self-efficacy. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 18(1), 50-62. doi:10.1080/15456870903210089Wolf, N. (1991). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. New York: W. Morrow.