In current society, appearance and status go hand in hand. That might be the reason why no other generation has ever been as obsessed with appearances as we are. Plastic surgery, tummy tucks, nose jobs, and liposuction are just a few of the ways for us to bring ourselves to closer to that image of the modern ideal man or woman. Having a brand name item could mean the difference between being respected and admired or shamed and ridiculed. Aesthetics have become a very powerful force in modern society, something that changes the very way we live our lives.

We are constantly pressured into being in the fashion circle and not out of it. Everyone knows that there are certain standards to what one can or cannot wear. Those who don’t know find out rather quickly. In general, you will be judged by what you’re wearing and treated as such. The ones who know the current fashion trends will find themselves admired; the ones who don’t may be avoided or ignored or in extreme cases spurned. In order to avoid the latter, one must follow those who do know what’s “in”. Aesthetics and social pressure are tied close together.

Society has given us multiple ways to change ourselves as well. Not only in the way do we change the way dress but we also change our physical appearance. Pills, makeup, creams and tanning salons are some of the things people use or go to by the thousands. Virginia Postrel’s article (which I have linked at the end of this response) on a new drug that raises children’s height is a reflection of how we strive to change children to our ideal as well. Advertisements about how we could look younger, slimmer, stronger, prettier, and so on are placed everywhere. We are constantly reminded of the ideal wherever we go, and of ways we could attempt to reach it.

Of course that doesn’t mean people are always caught up by social pressures or the ideal. Appearances are also a way for us to show who we are and what we are like. Virginia Postrel’s explains it well in her article “Our bodies are us. Yet our inner selves do not always match our physical forms. Our bodies impose definitions and limitations that falsify our identities and frustrate our purposes.” The power of aesthetics in our society is steady and growing, and maybe that’s the way we want it.

http://www.dynamist.com/articles-speeches/opeds/greatlengths.html

(Know the image is large just click on it to read it. )