A question surrounding the majority of women in today's society is a question of beauty. What is beauty? How can I be more beautiful? In reality, however, beauty has been lost through the modern portrayal of women in art, more specifically music, film, and photography. A claim as interesting as this is supported by many modern day musicians, actors, and performers. We live in a world full of the desire to be wanted and this desire is amplified with things like plastic surgery, risque clothing, and provocative song lyrics or stories. Every woman is affected. Society tells women that in order to be perceived as beautiful, she must look like x, y, or z. And x, y, or z is broadcasted on television, the radio, movies, songs, social media, and in photographs as "sexy." The young girls, women, and older women of today, myself included, are all stakeholders in this issue because of the stereotype of "beautiful" that modern society casts upon us. 

The Huffington Post gives a prime example of the loss of beauty in music. An article records that in 2013, singer Beyonce was voted GQ magazine's "Sexiest Woman of the 21st Century" because of her "curvy hips and slim waist." There is a key word in this article that establishes its values: sexy. Because of the shape of her body, she attained the title of sexiest woman. That is the logic that this source presents. Julee Wilson, a senior fashion editor at the post and author of this article, takes no biased stance. She is simply informing readers of who and why the sexiest woman of the 21st century is who she is. As far as credibility of the source goes, the Huffington Post is an extremely well-known, online news source for up-to-date issues and information. 

Aboutentertainment.com lays out the meanings of each rating in the film rating system. The article entitled "How Does a Movie get it's Rating?"  lays out what each rating is, from G to R. The underlying stakes and values in the article are about why and how each movie is rated the way that it is. Because of things like nudity, crude language, and violence each movie is evaluated for a rating. As films grew more daring and adventurous, a system was needed to sensor them, hence the creation of the rating system. An example is Legally Blonde, a PG-13 movie that is rated such solely because of it's sexual content, more specifically it's sexualizing of the main character, played by Reese Witherspoon.  James Rocchi, a Hollywood movie expert, wrote this article to help parents and families when discerning what movie is appropriate to watch. 

Finally, slate.com has an article about the creation of Victoria's Secret, one of the world's largest modeling and photography industries. Since its creation, by Roy Raymond to reduce the amount of shame that men feel when buying lingerie for a woman, the company has soared to new heights, creating some of the most attractive models worldwide. This article focuses on the company's creation, but it's values stem deeper than that. The company quickly grew and produced beautiful models. The photo shoots that these models take part in are not about their beauty, however, they are about their sexuality. Like the time during the company's creation, they are about selling a product. Naomi Barr, who wrote this article, is the lead researcher at O, the Oprah Magazine and has decades of writing experience. 

There are multiple arguments that oppose the argument for the loss of beauty in modern times. The first is that there are some people that still describe things as "beautiful." So does not the mere existence of these people contradict the argument for the loss of beauty? The second opposing argument is that there are traits that are seen as "inherently beautiful", therefore shedding light on the fact that beauty will always be around. However, there are logical ways to overcome these two arguments. All of the supporting sources that I have researched for this question share the same idea: that there is a problem involved with the way beauty is being portrayed today; that sexuality has risen and taken it's place. The opposing articles that I have researched for this question hold the same views as well. Even though they are written about different aspects of beauty the overarching themes are the same: beauty is still around in today's society. My views still stand true to my views at the beginning of the research process: eauty has been lost through the modern portrayal of women in art, more specifically, music, film, and photography. 

