Redefining what is considered beautiful seems like a Sisyphean task. Though various magazines and ad campaigns have tried to preach self-love and self-acceptance in the face of the obvious stereotypes for physical beauty, society has yet to overcome its obsession with perfection.
When you hear the phrase “beautiful woman,” do you picture an elderly woman whose eyes are lost in wrinkles and crow’s feet when she smiles? Do you picture a pudgy woman whose curves seem more lumpy than voluptuous? Do you, for all the girls reading this, picture yourself?
Chances are, you don’t. Chances are you picture a young woman, tall and slender, with a flawless complexion and flowing hair.
This is the very idea Dove is trying to change with their new, controversial ad campaign, “Campaign for Real Beauty.” In conjunction with American Girl, Unilever’s Dove company is attempting to promote sales of their products by showing real women using them, rather than publishing ads in which size 2 supermodels are attempting to firm their cellulite.
I recently saw one of Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” commercials. In it, the six women who were asked to be in the ad campaign dance around in their underwear. They’re six women of different ethnicities and body types, and not one of them is what is considered conventionally beautiful. One woman is short, pale and flat-chested, her hair bobbed. One is tall and curvy with a bold tattoo on her right thigh. Another is short and busty with long, curly hair.
I was surprised at the commercial, not having heard of the campaign yet. I was surprised at these women’s vivacious attitudes, but I immediately envied their energetic demeanors and glowing self-confidence.
These women were not beautiful because they had “perfect” anything (except smiles-every woman had a fantastic smile), but because they loved themselves, not with the arrogant confidence of a supermodel, but with the carefree appreciation of a woman who has matured enough to realize she is beautiful exactly as she is. These women were simply more comfortable in their own skins than any women I’ve seen.
On the Web site (www.campaignforrealbeauty.com), you can take an in-depth look at the campaign and get to know the women who are the face of “Real Beauty.” Each woman shares what makes her feel beautiful, whether it be her curves, her health and happiness or her positive attitude.
I found myself immediately inspired, finally feeling there might be some hope for girls and women everywhere who are bombarded every day with images of gaunt-faced models with perfect complexions, the longest eyelashes and fullest lips. Those models don’t exude happiness and friendly self-confidence the way Dove’s new models do.
The campaign has already found much opposition. Many blogs bash the campaign; these blogs are written by feminists, men and even some self-proclaimed “real women” who feel the Dove models aren’t “real” enough, stating the models are merely youthful-looking women just a shade heftier than the usual models. I believe there is some truth to all of the arguments I perused, though I still feel the ads have potential to have a positive impact.
Dove commissioned a study of over 3,200 women from 10 countries and found that a mere 2 percent consider themselves beautiful, and only 9 percent call themselves attractive. This represents a veritable cry for a broader definition of beauty, with a bigger influence put on attitude and spirit than on the perfectly proportioned body, which is virtually impossible to attain anyway.
I do realize that beneath all this is the goal of Dove to sell more products, which has happened since the campaign began. It is, after all, an advertising campaign. I’m trying to be less picky of their motives, though, because of how positively the commercials affected my attitude and how much potential I believe the commercials have to positively affect many other women. I didn’t run out and stock up on Dove products, I was simply uplifted, which I believe is a significant part of their motivation, however adversely gimmicky their motivation might be as well.
I hope that the idea of the “Campaign for Real Beauty” is embraced by women and men alike, everywhere. I would like to think that one day society will be able to let go of such a narrow view of what is beautiful. I would like to think that one day women will be able to appreciate their wrinkles, stretch marks, curly hair and curves or lack thereof. As the six women of the campaign are helping to prove, when a woman feels beautiful, her every characteristic is beautiful as well.