Ambrose Bierce (1958) once wrote, “To men, a man is but a spirit. Who cares what face he wears or what he wears? But the woman's body is the woman. Despite the societal changes made since Bierce's time, his statement remains true. Since the height of the feminist movement in the early 1970s, women have spent more money than ever on products and treatments designed to make them beautiful. Cosmetics sales increased each year, reaching $18 billion in 1987 ("Ignoring the economy...", 1989), women's clothing sales averaged $103 billion per month in 1990 (personal communication , United States Bureau of Economic Analysis, 1992), dieting has increased. has become a $30 billion per year industry (Stoffel, 1989), and women spent $1.2 billion on cosmetic surgery in 1990 (personal communication, American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, 1992). The importance of beauty has seemingly increased even as women demand personal freedoms and economic rights that our grandmothers did not dream of. An emphasis on beauty can be a way to maintain a feminine image while shedding feminine roles. Attractiveness is a prerequisite for femininity but not for masculinity (Freedman, 1986). The word beauty always refers to the female body. Attractive male bodies are described as “handsome,” a word derived from “hand” that refers to action as much as appearance (Freedman, 1986). The qualities of success and strength accompany the term beautiful; such attributes are rarely used in the description of attractive women and certainly do not accompany the term beauty, which refers only to a decorative quality. Men play a decisive role, women are ornamental. Beauty is one of the most elusive commodities. Ideas about what is beautiful vary across cultures and change...... middle of article....... Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10, 129-38.Stoffel, Jennifer. (1989, November 26). What's new in weight control: A market is growing as motivations change. New York Times, p. C17. Thompson, J. Kevin. (1986, April). Larger than life. Psychology Today, p. 41-44.Walker, Alice. (1990). Beauty: When the other dancer is yourself. In Evelyn C. White (Ed.), The book on black women's health: Speaking for ourselves (pp. 280-87). Seattle: Seal Press. Walster, Elaine, Aronson, Vera, Abrahams, Darcy and Rottman, Leon. (1966). Importance of physical attractiveness in romantic behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 508-16. Wernick, Mark and Manaster, Guy J. (1984). Age and perception of age and attractiveness. Gerontologist, 24, 408-14. Williams, Juanita H. (1985). Psychology of women: Behavior in a biosocial context. New York: Norton.