It would be incredibly naive to believe that our American society is not extremely concerned with the pursuit of thinness. Everywhere you go (e.g. grocery stores, bookstores, fitness centers, theaters) images of men and women that society deems "beautiful" are deliberately posted to sell a product, attract an audience, or simply to gain attention. Even in an age where obesity rates are rising rapidly, it seems that our society still idolizes the slim, chiseled man and the ultra-thin woman. Many argue that Hollywood and the media have a decisive force in creating a standard of beauty for its viewers. For many teenagers and young adults it is very difficult to achieve and maintain this specific "ideal" of body and weight. It makes you wonder whether or not this emphasis on appearance has played a role in the growing number of men and women who are dissatisfied with their bodies and who, as a result, decide to make extreme changes to their diet and exercise routines . It has been suggested that the mass media may be partly responsible for the dramatic increase in the prevalence of eating disorders in our nation (Anschutz, Van Strien, & Engels, 2008). Many believe there is a widening gap between what the media portrays as ideal body size and weight and what women's actual body size is. As a result, after continually looking at images of people whose size is almost impossible to achieve, both men and women feel increasingly bad about their bodies and report being dissatisfied. Thornton and Moore state that "according to social comparison theory, people tend to evaluate their appearance more negatively after seeing highly attractive individuals" (such as... middle of the paper...m" women who appear on most part of today's television media are very rarely the size of the average American woman. Instead, television most often portrays women who have had several children and yet maintain a very slim, size two frame. Some communication theories state that exposure to various media can lead viewers to begin to accept media representations of beauty as reality. Some researchers believe that this constant exposure creates a belief in women that looking like images seen is expected and central to attractiveness (2004) state that " Media presentations of women's bodies are so distorted, showcasing an ideal that is out of reach for most, that adopting this reality can lead to decreased self-satisfaction and behaviors aimed at meeting this ideal." (as cited in Grabe, Ward and Hyde, 2008).