“Many careful writers insist that the words data and media are Latin plurals and must, therefore, be used as plural words. The singular Latin forms of these words, however, are seldom used: datum as a single bit of information or medium as a single means of communication. Many authorities nowadays approve sentences like My data is lost. and The media is out to get the President. Even textbooks in computer science are beginning to use “data” as a singular”
This argument is so ridiculous. You want to know what women are supposed to look like? Go to Europe, where people act like human beings are supposed to act. People walk everywhere. They eat right. They have good habits. And they are polite. (I don’t like their economical systems though.) Because of all of this healthy living the women there are gorgeous! Beauty standard unrealistic? Maybe for Americans with our fattening fast food, lack of public transportation, and the loath to walk. But the beauty standar isn’t too much of a reach for Europeans. The young women in Europe DO look like the ads. Why do you think so many models come from Europe?
Case closed.
I’ve been to Europe a couple of times, and I tend to disagree. Yeah, on the whole, the people are smaller, but when it comes to terms of “beauty” I didn’t see that many models. I’d say, facially speaking, that they have about the same number of “pretty” people that we do.
Industry does not try to mold men’s image of beauty as much as it tries to mold women’s idea of beauty. To sell their products they try to make women feel inadequate.
Now they are shifting this strategy to men. Calvin Klein shows muscled abdomens, model faces, and clingy underwear.
By changing the standard of beauty, they create a sense of inadequacy in the viewer, who then decides that they must buy the lipstick/underwear/shirt in order to meet or exceed the standard. Some men and women won’t spend a day of their life without wearing a cologne or eyeliner.
Is it a conspiracy? Well, it’s a marketing strategy…
Regardless of grammar it is proper to say the media “is”. A plural noun treated as a singular unit/group is perfectly properly referred to in the singular tense
i.e. “The citizenry is up in arms over the new tax hike”
Thankyou, FranticMad. It started with women, but ever since advertisers realised they were ignoring half the potential market, the pressure of the beauty standard has been slowly but surely extended to include men.
Great - now we can all feel pressured to spend big so as to conform to an unrealistic standard. Yay!
Women in Europe are not thin. They are healthy. American women have the most eating disorders in the World.
Anorexia and Bulemia. Regular European women are shapely,Supermodels are called supermodels because they are rare. They are not the norm.
Women in Europe are not thin. They are healthy. American women have the most eating disorders in the World.
Anorexia and Bulemia. Regular European women are shapely,Supermodels are called supermodels because they are rare. They are not the norm.
Women in Europe are not thin. They are healthy. American women have the most eating disorders in the World.
Anorexia and Bulemia. Regular European women are shapely,Supermodels are called supermodels because they are rare. They are not the norm.
Have you been to Europe?
Have you seen how much they smoke? Particularly women.
Angelofthemist68 using generalizations like prisoner did… won’t help your case. “They are healthy” Well, Ima move to Europe then!