3 October, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I’ve always been irked by Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, which in my view just co-opts the language and ideals of feminism to sell beauty products. But their latest commercial is really just brilliant. It’s heartbreaking and it’s true. See below or here.
[gv data="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I" width="425" height="350"][/gv]
Also check out this older commercial. Working in the magazine industry, I saw this happen with my own eyes.
What kind of world are we creating for young girls — and for young boys? It’s too painful to even think about.
Anglofille said @ 9:00 pm | feminism |
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Alas ! It’s made by Dove. And that’s nothing but advertising. Third type and well made advertising maybe, but advertising !
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I know, that’s why I feel conflicted about it. This little film isn’t actually an advertisement, but it is a short film made by a huge corporation. Still, that’s just a minor distinction. I hate advertising with a passion. However, these ideas about women and beauty are not often heard in mainstream culture. I write about body image and it’s hard to get people to pay attention. Dove is powerful and their voice is heard by many women. For me, it’s important to get this message out there, even if Dove is delivering it. I understand that people disagree though.
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slight post-jack (as the kids say): what do you think about the new campaign against anorexia in Italy? It seems incredibly voyeuristic not to mention borderline exploitative, but if it helps a few young ladies out, isn’t it worth it?
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Ah yes, this campaign. I think the company who produced this has even more of a questionable motive than the people at Dove. This campaign is highly problematic, unlike the Dove campaign. It may actually encourage eating disorders in some people. It also clearly sets up a dynamic wherein one type of woman is portrayed as repulsive and ugly, which is the same kind of thinking that contributes to eating disorders in the first place. (You’re too fat, you’re too thin, no matter what you do you’ll never be just right.) That said, it gets people talking about this issue and it has put fashion designers on the defensive, so it’s not all bad news.
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I work with young kids, their parents and volunteers who become mentors to boys and girls and when you ask the parents (when in the enrollment stage) what they hope their kids get out of the experience…down the middle, the parents always use the very specific language and say “self-esteem” for young girls while it rarely ever comes up as an issue for boys…
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What do you think about that? I imagine boys have just as many self-esteem issues as girls, but perhaps we’re more comfortable seeing girls as victims.
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I’d agree with that, it’s harder for the culture, and the parents in our program at least, to put into words that their boys have this or that specific issue or “self-esteem” problem having to do with their sense of self-worth. For boys though, the parents always say “needs postive male role model (because ex-husband was violent, dad wasn’t around, etc)” which I can see as another way of getting at “self-esteem” without saying it.
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Daniela Says:
October 4th, 2007 at 8:15 pmadvertising is manipulative, no doubt about it. i’ve always wondered what crosses somebody’s mind and soul when they decide they want to work in its industry. but it is not some that it is going to disappear from the world. so if dove are going to keep selling their products at least they are not selling illusions, at least they are saying women it is alright not to look like paris hilton. even if they are using this appeal to make you feel friendly towards their products. it is like everything else, or social marketing. it is still crap but at least they are not saying to you to starve to death to feel beautiful. it is a positive point amongst some bad ones.
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In a way, this still bothers me. I suppose I’d like to see a time where women can just accept their body as is - warts and all - as a tool for *doing* things. Where it has no intrinsic value (good or bad) except for what it can DO for you - to get you from place to place, to see beauty, to experience pleasure, to hear music, to give birth, to help people, to keep you alive and breathing and feeling to a ripe old age.
Isn’t that what we should be aiming for? Where it’s amazing for what it *does*, not what it looks like or doesn’t look like?
In a way, I think having to try to un-brainwash girls (and boys) is almost as sad as the brainwashing itself, because it still emphasises the value that’s placed on women’s bodies.
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I definitely agree with you, but I truly think it’ll take generations before society can get to that place. Even for someone like me, I have a hard time experiencing my own body in the empowering way that you describe, which is beyond shameful.
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“I definitely agree with you, but I truly think it’ll take generations before society can get to that place.”
sigh… i know. a girl can dream…
