Beauty at Any Cost

It's sad, but true that in today's society women are judged -- and often judge each other -- based on appearance.

The obsession that America has with beauty has taken a toll on women (especially young ladies), both emotionally and financially. Earlier this week, the YWCA USA released a report that contains alarming information and statistics about how women and girls will work to achieve "beauty at any cost."

Here are some highlights:

• In 2007, the top five surgical cosmetic procedures for women in the United States (by numbers of procedures performed) were: breast augmentation, lipoplasty, eyelid surgery, abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and breast reduction. Together, expenditures for these procedures totaled $5.3 billion.


• One analysis found that workers with “below average” looks tended to earn about 9% less money than workers who were “above average” in appearance, and that those who were
  “above average” in appearance tended to make about 5% more money than those who were “average looking.”


• Over 1/2 of teenage girls use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.

YWCA USA plans to use the information found in this report to further our mission of empowering women. And an empowered woman is a true model of beauty.

You can read the full report at YWCA USA.