"Normal" people vs The Media...kinda

Somehow i think I'm crazy, but i think how we view ourselves and movies/tv are connected.

For instance, there is a reality TV show called Americas Next Top Model, hosted, owned, created, and judged by super model Tyra Banks. The show started back in late 2001 and is still as popular as when it first came out, if not more. If you aren't familiar with Americas Next Top Model, it's a show about girls who get picked by Tyra Banks and a panel of other almost as famous but not heard of judges, to become Americas Next Top Model. It starts off with thousands of girls from around the country, after that it gets narrowed down to 25, after that, to 15 and that's when the competition starts. It's a modeling show, so of course it's going to be about cloths, makeup, and other modeling things, but throughout the course of the season you have to wonder how these girls get so comfortable with their bodies. Two seasons ago, for the first time in ANTM history a "plus size model" won. The sad part is, she was only a size ten. I know the modeling world very well, and how sizes work, so that to models is considered "fat". (Size 10 and up is considered plus size, size 4 and down is a models normal size.) Most of these girls didn't start out looking like this, they used to be normal people. Somehow though, in some way, something made them want to change how they looked.

In a way, shows like Americas Next Top Model, The Biggest Loser, and even American Idol all effect how people view themselves. It almost seems that in today's world, you focus on how you look more than anything else. With comments we've all heard ranging from "Does my butt look fat in these jeans?" to "Hows my hair?" we're always thinking about how we look.

Even in movies, you don't often see a normal person. All movies stars are pretty, and thin. Very rarely do you see a movie with a leading lady that a plus size. Actors on the other hand, that's an entirely different story. Men can look as normal as they want, and they don't have as much pressure on them as actresses do. In some weird way, the actresses almost sells a movie. Correction, a good looking actor/actress sells a movie. I would have continued with just the actress, but then i remembered Broke Back Mountain. Very rarely do you see an "ugly" and "fat" female news anchor. The man can look however they want, but women HAVE to be perfect in order to get the job and to be on camera.

My point is, there is pressure on us to look a certain way and if you don't look that way you're considered by society to be "normal" or "not as good looking" or "ugly". It's almost like war propaganda, only its more under the radar. What's wrong with "normal" people? Why don't they have a fashion company for "normal" people. Why don't they considered you a model if you're between size 10 to 5? Why are we (mostly women) allowing ourselves to think badly of ourselves because of what society thinks of us? How can we let ourselves be so easily brainwashed? Who decided that you have to be pretty, thin, hansom, or for lack of a better term "perfect"? Who decided what was considered fat, normal, or thin? Who started all of this?