A friend showed me this video this weekend and I had to share!! Most of you guys have probably heard of Dove, and their natural beauty campaign, but I thought that this was a great example of what women think about their own image. Everyday, women and young girls are surrounded by these highly idealized media images if what women "should" look like. We've been trained by society to think that we aren't worth as much as women who look like Gisele Bündchen, Miranda Kerr or Tyra Banks. We are the rule, those women are the exception. It's their job to be beautiful women, it's our job just to be regular women-but who says we can't be beautiful too? :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE
Also check out this one, really shows how much society can affect a younger generation
Why 6 out of 10 girls will stop doing what they love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rSY7zpINa4
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these commercials, I'm soo tired of seeing size zeros in some panties. lol I don't look like that.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, its about how you feel comfortable not what society wants.
ReplyDeleteI love these clips. I've seen both before, but I'll admit upon watching them a second time in connection with what I've learned in class and my own personal experiences that I teared up a little. We place so much value on our appearances and we're so critical, and it makes me emotional to think that as women we don't see how truly beautiful we are just by being ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI have some problems with this. Overall, yeah the message that women are our own harshest critics is nice and all, (because I know I sure am) but who is saying this... A COMPANY that SELLS beauty supplies. They're generally not in the business of making us feel good about ourselves (or they'd be out of business), so I can't help but be a little dubious at first...
ReplyDeleteThe words they use as positives and negatives reinforce our pretty limited ideas of beauty... the women who are describing their self-perceived negative aspects of their faces were using words like "rounder", crows feet, (really? who gives a fuck, that's SO NORMAL, I HAVE CROWS FEET AT 23) whereas the "cute, short" nose was valued for one woman, or "nice" eyes (why do women have to look "nice"?). I don't know, I just can't help but really believe that dove's appeal to my emotions is all about me feeling good about myself. It's part of a system that is constantly making us feel like we're inadequate, our face isn't "thin" enough, or a larger chin isn't feminine enough, or prominent nose isn't as "CUTE" as a smaller one, so that we buy their products to improve our self-image. If these heart-warming feelings are connected in my head with my (narrow-minded) "positive" view of myself, I will remember that next time I'm buying shampoo or whatever it is, and am more likely to feel a companionship pr some bullshit like that with Dove, and buy their product.
Honestly, the best feeling or view I've had of myself and my image that I've had in a long time, came after watching MissRepresentation. The idea of you can't be what you can't see plays a huge role here. I got to see all of these intelligent, strong and yes, beautiful, women speak out against the idea that women and girls have to be a certain way. I felt empowered, I felt beautiful, I felt in control.
WOMEN CAN BE SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST "BEAUTIFUL".
also, why don't they talk to the women of color more? AND, why are the men present at all is this is for women. reinforcing the idea that men play a huge role in the validation of our looks/self.
ReplyDeleteOk, hold on. I'm sorry to "yuck" anyone's "yum" here... I will admit it by and large a step forward for beauty company, to (try) to promote some self-love. But I don't know...it just doesn't seem to sit right with me.
ReplyDeletealso, I do like that they use real women, instead of the supermodels like you pointed out, Emily.
ReplyDeleteI was already familiar with the dove campaign and I honestly love these commercials. I agree that Dove, as a cosmetics company, thrives on basically exploiting women's flaws and imperfections, however I really do believe they are making a genuine effort through this campaign. While some cosmetic companies shamelessly use beautiful models to sell their products (which obviously exploits women's insecurities while perpetuating the beauty norms of our culture), I nevertheless believe Dove is truly trying to make a statement while also selling a product. Despite their intentions, I think these campaigns can have a wonderful effect on everyone who watches them and I think it's extremely refreshing to openly discuss the shortcomings of society and the negative effect beauty ideals have on women especially.
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