In today's competitive society, a person strives for perfection, due to the fact
that so much emphasis is placed on one's outer appearance. No matter who we are
or where we live, society puts this pressure upon us. We are typically faced
with this pressure by models on television and in magazines. Companies seem to
have targeted women more so than men. They usually use women with good looks and
nice figures to advertise and market their product. When companies use these
women in advertisements, it is setting a standard that other women feel that
they need to follow.

What has happened to internal beauty? Society puts so much importance on
external beauty that people have forgotten about an individual having beauty
within. The sayings 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and 'beauty is only
skin deep' come to mind when I think about just how much emphasis is placed on
outer appearance.

A major factor that has increased the percentage of overweight people in society
is technology. This includes items such as elevators, escalators, garage-door
openers, drive-in windows, and the remote control. It use to be that you would
at least burn some calories by having to get up and turn the channel on the
television, but thanks to technology it is now a push of a button. Just think,
things have the possibility to grow increasingly worse because of the
'information super highway'. There is no need to get out and walk the malls in
search of a particular item or gift. With the use of the 'super highway' you
just need a credit card and the item is delivered to your doorstep. Can
technology be causing more harm than good?

One of the most disheartening facts is that there are people and companies that
are benefiting from those who continue ...