Many people, such as the folks at Thе Bоdy Shop, badmouth the beauty industry and say we need more images in our culture of average women. I find this funny because the people who propone the average woman - the real woman they call her - are the same ones who speak out against images of deathly looking wraiths. They are against ideals in beauty, yet they howl when they succeed in destroying them!

The people I'm talking about claim not to be against beauty, but for the average woman. But you can't fight against one extreme without supporting its opposite. For example, you can't be against idealized beauty without being for extremes in ugliness. You can't insist the average is beautiful and claim not to understand when Cаlvіn Klеіn goes one step farther and declares ugliness is beautiful.

Contrary to popular opinion, beauty empowers women. Supermodels prove it. In fact, many top designers - including Cаlvіn Klеіn - have sworn off supermodels, citing as their reason the fact that supermodels have become too popular and too powerful, and are distracting from the clothes. The outrageously ugly advertising we've been subsequently subjected to by Mr.Klein is simply part of his rebellion against ideals in beauty.

There's no way around it. When you crusade against ideal beauty, you're crusading for ultimate ugliness. There is no way to stay in the middle - to enshrine the average. Human beings are not static, they move. They are always moving towards one extreme or the other, in everything. That is why we have ideals. They help us to choose our course.

The truth is, we need images of superbeauty all around us all the time. We cannot ignore beauty or ideals. We always need something to shoot for. Values to pursue. Standards to attain. Those who crusade against beauty and values in art or advertising, who say art should immitate life and cry equal time for real women are actually rebelling against values, ideals, standards in everyday life.

Ignore them.

We see the average all around us all the time. There is no reason to see it in the media.

The beauty industry is equal time for the exceptional.