What is beautiful in this country can be considered as a very concrete and well-formulated idea. The public can begin to grasp the idea of what is attractive any time there is a red carpet event on television. Fashion is the order of any red carpet event. It can become noticeable that people who are seen as appealing to the naked eye for the most part, are thin or well built and are able to show off the best designer's fashions. Yes, in recent years Latinas, such as, Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek have changed the minds of the public in terms of embracing and celebrating their curvy figures. As well as Queen Latifah who has showed the world that being "full figured" can be an example of attractiveness and allure. However, in order for any celebrity to display designer clothes on the red carpet, celebrities are required to walk and pose in a certain manner, especially women. Famous people have become the model of sexual appeal and fashion trendsetters. Therefore, they have to keep up with the persona of the standard of beauty; and the public is bombarded with these sort of ideas and images.

I, the viewer, am always asking myself where are the people with disabilities. Why is it that we barely see people with disabilities in the mass media. In the event that we do see a person with a disability in the media whether it be on television, in a magazine, or in a movie, we most likely see them in a weak, victimized situation or being the recipient of an act of kindness.

For example, the movie, "I am Sam" starring Sean Penn, a movie about a father and his unconditional love for his daughter. He was the father that any child would want and need. Sean Penn's character, Sam, was nothing short of a loving, devoted father. His earnest desire was to raise his daughter. Yet, instead of being looked at as a good father, he was ridiculed for being mentally retarded. Furthermore, he almost lost custody of his child because of his disability. Despite the fact that at the end of the movie, Sam keeps custody of his daughter, viewers see how society considers him as an unfit parent because of his IQ level. In "I am Sam", one can see how a person with a disability is judged on his or her incapability to think on the "normal" level rather than on his or her capability to love a child. A person may say that Sam becomes the victim of some people's belief that a person with a disability should not be a parent.

Disability portrayals on TV talk and reality shows
Moreover, when viewing people who have a disability on a talk show, it seems that they are being given a "break" because they been dealt an unfair hand in life. Their lives are made to be so full of tragedy and abnormalities that their disabilities story needs to be known to society. Furthermore, viewers are compelled to feel compassion and contribute to the  "break" by denoting money or time to alleviate some of the hardships. A person can also consider this sort of thinking when opening a magazine or any piece of literary source. The reader usually learns what a struggle it can be to live with a disability in a way that makes that person's story merit a heroic status. Readers should see the individual not as a hero, but as a survivor who is living life just like anyone else, only he or she just happens to have a disability.

Not so long ago, African Americans constantly struggled to positively portray themselves in the movies. Some may say that it took filmmakers such as Spike Lee to put positive images of African Americans in his films in order for American minds to change. Nowadays, despite that, there is still some struggles for the African American community to have positive images in the media; they have made some waves. On the other hand, it seems that the wind has not begun to blow on the topic of healthy images of people with disabilities in the media.

Fashion industry
I recently interviewed someone who has had experience in the fashion industry. I spoke to Ariagna Perello who is the executive producer of the Ms. Latina New Jersey Pageant. Ms. Perello, a former model herself, shared her thoughts on why there is a lack of people with disabilities in fashion and in the media.

Ms. Perello spoke of how, in general, the modeling business is a very competitive world for anyone. She concurs with my thoughts that there is a standard that a person who wants to be a model has to meet. Consequently, she believes that for a person who has a disability and who aspires to be in front of the camera in any way faces greater obstacles and scrutiny. Ms. Perello thinks that people become uncomfortable when working with a person with a disability because of their lack of knowledge about disabilities in general. She also suggested that there aren't many venues for people with disabilities to take advantage of in terms of the modeling. Therefore, society sees a lack of people with disabilities in the world of the fashion.

I also was able to speak to a group of young, Latina ladies who were preparing for an up and coming fashion event that Ms. Perello was hosting. The models were between the ages of 13 and 25 years old. I was curious to know how they would feel working with someone with a disability. Their reactions were positive and encouraging. The majority of the young ladies welcomed the idea of working in a fashion show with a person who has a disability. "I would be proud and try to help the person as much as possible" said one of the models with big smile.

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