All in the name of beauty

The world is in the grip of an epidemic of catastrophic proportions .Pursuit of a skeletal thinness is the passion that young and old are in the grip of .
I guess mankind has been smitten by good looks from the times of adam and eve .What has changed over the ages is the measure by which beauty is guaged.I will deal specifically with women.At one time they were meant to be buxom and well curved but had to bear the torture of a tight laced corset .In some countries their feet were bound and mis shapen ,as feet were meant to be small .In others their necks were made giraffe like by hoops worn around the neck .
And now it has come to pass that the plump and the obese are running an unenviable race to "thin heaven" and that is understandable .The thin and the scrawny are also in the race but to the "x-ray heaven" where they will have just a thin layer covering their beauteous bones .One common subject of discussion at work ,at parties - what has one been doing or eating less of to reach one of the above heavens .The magazines are full of the current diets of the hollywood stars -that and their divorces and secret love life and pregnancies being the hot selling points .Each day books are released with new arguments as to why the diet and lifestyle being propounded by that book is the best . Atkins ,champagne ,popcorn only ,raw veggies ,soups ,meal replacement satchets at pharmacies - one has a wide variety to choose from .Thankfully some schools of thought dwell upon the need for balance in all walks of life .
That methinks is common sense but to quote an oft quoted cliche : common sense is a sense which is not common .
And similarly the skin colour craze ,the not so white want to bleach their skin milky white and the white want to tan their skin to a golden hue ,but thats another story .