" The standards of beauty in America's über-culture are purposefully set too high so that we will buy anything in our frantic scramble to become attractive. We are meant to feel crushed, inadequate, and less-than so that we'll buy more and more things in the vain hope of "fixing" ourselves. "

― Kate Bornstein , Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws