At one work of art after another, the recurring theme was that despite a cultural obsession with thinness, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

"The lures are an expression of this phenomenon of acquiring money as a cultural obsession," he said.

There are no statistics, really, to quantify our cultural obsession with male genitalia.

The trophy glut reflects the growing cultural obsession with heroes, celebrities and winners.

It wouldn't have become a cultural obsession otherwise.

The thirst for pampering may also have a link to a growing cultural obsession with celebrities.

Thus, the cultural obsession with being thin as a physical, psychological, and moral issue must be addressed.

But the slow economy and cultural obsession with physical fitness may also be factors in military life's appeal, Mr. White says.

The war against poshlost' was a cultural obsession of the Russian and Soviet intelligentsia from the 1860s to 1960s.

That ambiguity only adds to her photographs' appeal - as does the current cultural obsession with home-improvement shows, magazines and books.