Today's box-office stars such as Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Hugh Grant and Leonardo DiCaprio have all given ordinary men permission to acknowledge their 'feminine side' and this has been reflected in the growth of markets associated with personal grooming. From mankind's earliest days there have been attempts by human beings to alter their appearance through the use of adornments such as makeup, jewellery and clothing and the mirror has been underrated as one of the key influences on our social development. Women, in particular, have been in the forefront of the use of cosmetics and toiletries to increase their allure and throughout history, society has thrown up iconic figures such as Queen Nefertiti, Helen of Troy, the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra and Boudicca.
These beauties used a combination of shrewd political intelligence and their sexual attractiveness to men to great effect and thereby wielded great power. While there is no doubt that their physical perfection was largely a gift of birth, they were adept at using early forms of cosmetics to enhance it, as well as using spectacular costumes and accessories. Their example as beauties and role models was preserved for their own people and posterity by portraits and sculpture and we see the same process continuing on into the modern era. The advent of photography certainly gave an enormous boost to the influence of celebrities over other people and industries such as cosmetics, hair care and toiletries have from the beginning used Hollywood stars and other famous beauties to promote their brands.
But it's not just female stars who have had an effect on women customers. What is striking is the degree to which men too have got involved in the beauty business especially as it's not long since the image of the ideal man was 'macho', as portrayed and lived by the likes of John Wayne. The feminist movement and its successors have increasingly succeeded in changing the balance of power between the sexes in both boardroom and bedroom.
One of the stars who has had the greatest impact on women and their physical self-image and the transference from the feminine ideal of a soft, essentially unathletic and passive persona to one of a more muscular, toned and empowered physique is Jane Fonda. On the back of a movie career based on hits such as They Shoot Horses Don't They?, Barbarella, Klute, The China Syndrome and On Golden Pond, many of which played to her feminist beliefs, she launched her original 'Workout' video in 1982. Since then she has sold over 4 million videos and been a major contributor to the global exercise and gym phenomenon, educating and enabling millions of people to achieve a healthier balance between 'calories in' and 'calories out'.
Quite recently there has been such an enthusiastic take-up and vocal endorsement by stars such as Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Geri Halliwell and Catherine Zeta-Jones of the Atkins Diet, that it has now become world famous. This regime increases substantially the proportion of protein in the daily diet and reduces carbohydrate significantly. Despite its controversial nature millions of ordinary people have taken it up. Indeed its adverse effect on proprietary diet brands such as 'Slim-Fast' has led to Unilever blaming it for reduced US revenues and there is even talk of reviving the Potato Marketing Board!
The storylines in movies and TV dramas have reflected the new social reality as it has evolved and perhaps led it too. 'Real men' have become 'new men' and most recently we have discovered the 'metrosexual', a man who displays many character traits and behaviours that would once have been regarded, pejoratively, as effeminate. In line with this, today's male Hollywood stars are quite often physically unimposing with the Schwarzenegger physique somewhat out of fashion and the newer men possessing a sensitivity light years away from the 'Dirty Harry' persona made famous by Clint Eastwood.
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07192010
1. Robert Aldrich produced many social and political movies
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