Today I'm going to comment/rant about something that I have been seeing going around the internet. It is the above picture comparing Victoria Secret's "Love My Body" campaign versus Dove's "Real beauty" campaign.
Now, I think that Dove is attempting to have admirable intentions with what they are trying to achieve through their "real beauty campaign" but to me the above picture falls short in several ways.
First: The Above Comparison suggests that Women with Thin Body's are not "Really" Beautiful
I think a major downfall of Dove's campaign is that they are displaying the -median- women rather than showing true diversity. Notice how none of the Dove models look like the VS models? This is suggesting that only "real women" look like the women in the Dove campaign.
Now, the VS models believe or not, naturally have bodies like that. I find women are quick to say “well VS models are NOT healthy, they’re anorexic”. This is wrong and extremely hurtful for women with this type of body (they’re called ectomorphs). Yes, they work out and eat a certain way, yes it is wrong to over sexualize them, and only use that type of model to sell a product, but I feel Dove is saying there is something wrong if a women looks like a VS model. That is bullshit... period.
Second: What About the Other Women Dove?
Similarly, Dove has also left out of their campaign muscular women, obese women, disabled women, body builders, fitness competitors, women with skin conditions... the list could go on.
Are they saying that these women are not beautiful too?
Again, are they suggesting that the only beautiful women are the ones with an average 25-30% body fat type range of similar height and age who wear bad knickers? Dove has repeatedly said their goal with the "real beauty” campaign is to have women enhance their body esteem by showing diversity. I would argue that this picture (although is superficially diverse) is about as variable as white rice on white bread.
Dotting a couple of different ethnicities and hair colours in a group of women does not = representation of all women, sorry Dove!
Third: Where's the men Dove?
To me this highlights very nicely the transparency of Dove's mission. Yes women have low body esteem generally, but so do a lot of men. So why aren't they part of this social responsibility crusade that Dove has taken upon themselves.... Oh that's right, men aren't Dove's target market.
To me, as a multi billion dollar company, if you are going to attempt to be socially responsible, try not to use it to make a profit. I know, I know, everyone is looking for a profit, even the most serious of social crusades (i.e., the fight against cancer), but to me, if your motives behind something are to bring in a profit by seeming to care about your target audience, it just screams wrong to me.
Anyway, I thought Dove sold soap type products.... not naked ladies
Fourth: Why the HELL are these women in their underwear.....
Necessary to have an impact in the world of media.... possibly. Trying to get the message across women should be comfortable naked, maybe....
However, if I look closely at this picture, it seems to embody a lot of the things that disempower women, rather than empower them
a) A lot of the women look meek and passive: You should be confident with your body women! Wait… don’t be too confident/muscular/dominant, we wouldn't want you to wander out of the kitchen now would we?
b) They are in their underwear: Nothing is more empowering to women's esteem than saying that their worth is based on what they look like naked! Forget that law degree… it means nothing in the bedroom.
c) Absence of Personality: This is a prime example of the pure objectification of women. We have no inclination of their personalities, their lives, their dreams or their desires in this picture. They are objects, pieces of meat in poorly selected underwear. Go women!
I guess what I'm getting at here is that although this advertisement an attempt to empower women and stimulate change in what a beautiful women is, it falls short in many many ways.
Rant....over
Stay Strong!
~Byn
Well said my friend! I couldn't agree more. When I was in high school I was really thin. People used to joke that I was anorexic and it was extremely hurtful. Little did they know that I used to go home and overeat hoping to gain weight so that I could actually fill out women's clothing. I desperately wanted boobs and a bum like all the other girls! Body image problems and eating disorders swing both ways -if people hadn't been so thoughtless in high school I probably wouldn't have overeaten. Now that my body type and metabolism have shifted, I'm having trouble maintaining a healthy weight because I learned to overeat when I was super skinny.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add to the lack of diversity rant the narrow age range portrayed - there are no elderly people, or very young people (not that I think there should be children in their undies in magazines).
And on the topic of undies, seriously, who picked out those undies? If I was going to be in a magazine in my knickers, I would certainly be sporting something more sassy. Nothing says confidence like purple leopard print, amiright?
Hi Ashley!
DeleteWhat a terrible experience you went threw. I went through something similar but was called a "tom boy" and "manly" because I was athletic and played the boys sports, because of it I dropped out of sports, dated boys, wore padded bras and skirts to "fit in". I really think it's a shame that there is a strong culture promoting girls to hate other girls and make them feel bad about themselves. As women we are either too tall, too thin, too short, too dark, too pale, too fat, too bitchy (assertive), to quiet, too loud, too accomplished, not accomplished enough. When did we become so inherently imperfect for just being us? It's something that really bothers me in the fitness and health industry as well. If we all hated everything a little less this world would be a lot better place.
Thanks for sharing your story, hopefully some 13 year old girl struggling with the same issues you had stumbles across this.
Second rant over
Byn,
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, as a woman who is not super thin, when I look at the Dove ad, I feel nothing but relief. They may not have the most diverse group of women possible, yes, they don't have older women or women with disabilities or little people or amputees, but seriously, who cares!
At least they are offering the suggestion that these women are beautiful TOO, which almost never gets represented in any type of advertising. If you look at ANY ad whether it is soap or gum or weed killer or shoes or vinyl siding, the ads always have thin women. This is why when I look at the Dove ad I just feel relief. It is like suddenly being validated as a human being. Forget beauty, it is just nice to see something, anything, that I can actually relate to. Even cartoons on TV don't allow the women to be fat...Homer Simpson has to have a thin wife and so does The Family Guy...it is oppressive, and it makes you feel invisible and less of a human being.
No one needs to tell the thin girls in the VS ads that they are beautiful. They get this message all the time, 24/7. Sticking up for them and saying that they are beautiful too is not necessary, it is actually insulting. All of society celebrates their beauty all day long every day. Oh, the poor skinny girls getting told they look anorexic. Try being not-skinny and therefore invisible. This has actually been proven in studies where they've taken a thin girl and put her in a fat suit and sent her out into the world with secret video tape footage. People don't stop to help her when she asks for help, they are openly rude, or they completely ignore her. When she goes out as her thin self, she gets help when she asks for it, she is treated with respect, and often gets special rewards and favors done for her.
You look to me like a petite blonde woman from your picture. Lucky you. Imagine for one second, a world where your looks were considered unattractive, and the only images presented to you of beauty were big black women with tight curly afros. Forget it, you couldn't possibly imagine this. The world is too skewed in your favor.
My suspicion is that there is something about the Dove ad in particular that you don't like. My guess is that you yourself find their larger bodies unacceptable, and deep down, looking at those women's bodies bothers you, because you think they are unattractive. Your blog is just window dressing for your underlying dislike of their bodies. I think this, because why don't you equally criticize the VS ad? Doesn't their "love my body" campaign kind of imply that they are trying to get women to embrace their bodies and talk about what they love about their bodies or something like that? Then why don't they have anyone in the ad above a size 0? Actually, the women in the VS ad look like they are all exactly the same size and have exactly the same body shape. If you took their height and dimensions it seems to me that they are exactly the same women. Not to mention that there is less ethnic diversity in their ad than the Dove one. Why doesn't it bother you that VS has no old disabled women? I think you need to look at your own prejudices and biases.
Thank you for your comment Anonymous! I can definately understand the frusteration you have expressed in your reply, as I myself have been overweight at one point in my life and know what it feels like. I can understand the futher frusteration when someone is critiquing something that makes you feel good!
ReplyDeleteI feel that women and men have been misrepresented by this campaign. It's not an attack on anyone's shape or size by any means. I do appreciate your comments as I think it shows a good example of how strongly our socialized views of body images effect people, thank you for this.
Every women feels self concious, some to varying degress. This is wrong. I feel Dove could have done a better job by being inclusive of everyone, regardless of shape or size. However, if it makes you feel good about yourself that is wonderful!
Take care!
Byn
Hey Byn, have you seen the "Killing Us Softly" lectures on media's portrayal of women? A lot of your same points are made and I think that you'd enjoy it. I'll post the links up to the latest one here so that others can click them too:
ReplyDeletePart 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opu0Lyn5krA
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRC0PtgmXTg
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9RvZf8hJdk
Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtJAhkE9Id4
I believe that Dove's "real beauty" campaign is also put under fire in these but I may have to watch them again to be certain.
You're right, a closer look at these women show that they are all the same. There are no lines, no blemishes, clear skin, no cellulite, no stretch marks and no loose skin. They are all the same age and the same body type. On the face of it the ad is saying "You don't have to be perfectly skinny to be beautiful" but delving deeper all it really says is "You have to be perfect in a different way to the one we're used to."
Sadly, this kind of sexism is absolutely rampant in the media all around us and women are not the only targets. I could go on a nice huge rant about misandry in the media too but that's for another day :)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your input Megs :D
DeleteUnfortunately a lot of readers don't know my background, who I am, and what I stand for, so I can come off a a snooty fittness instructor who hates overweight people... because sadly there are A LOT of fitness professionals who HAVE been thin, lucky, and tradionally beautiful their entire lives. I struck a nerve with Anon, that is fine, I wish her/him well and hope she/he keeps reading my blog for help. I don't do this blog for money, only to help people. I hope people know that :)
Crap... I somehow managed to get rid of your post by accident megs, I'm not good at the technologies sometimes. Feel free to post it again!!! hahaha
DeleteFail :P It's okay that you deleted it because there was an error in it anyway that stuck out like a sore thumb when I re-read it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I had basically said was that I'm Byn's sister. I've been struggling with weight and body image my entire life (as has she) so it's something that's real close to home for both of us.
While this campaign may be a step in the right direction for the two thirds of Americans who are overweight or obese, beneath the surface it is actually a lot "more of the same".
I'll also add that I really hate the term "Real Woman", as if other women are imaginary or fake? Real women come in all shapes and sizes, from the naturally svelte to the naturally curvy, muscular and everything in between. That sad result of the ad industry is that we end up turning on one another when we really should be supporting one another.
I, personally, can attest to Byn being one of the least judgmental people I know and it would be a shame if people dismissed the help and hope she offers by assuming that she is.
You know, Anonymous's comment really bothers me for a couple of reasons. First, it speaks to exactly what Byn had to say in her comment back to me that our culture promotes girls to hate other girls. Anon is obviously resentful towards thin girls, now maybe that's because she's suffered bullying at the hands of thinner girls in high school (not surprising, kids are mean creatures), I don't know her reason. Bullying is hurtful, regardless of your size, ethnicity, physical features, whatever. If Anon set aside HER prejudice long enough to watch a show like America's Next Top Model, she would know that most models were awkward teens and experienced a LOT of bullying, and that kind of hurt doesn't just wash away when you grow up. Never judge a book by its cover.
ReplyDeleteIt is also bothered me that she said all of the VS models "are exactly the same women". Just because women share a dress size doesn't make them the same. Being tall, thin, and pretty doesn't make it acceptable for you to strip them of their individuality or personhood. You treat these women as though they are mannequins. Isn't one of the ideas (however poorly executed) of "real beauty" to remind everyone that women are real people?
Byn's point to all of this is that all people deserve to be represented in some way if we are to truly represent "Real" beauty. Body image affects ALL members of our society. Suggesting that the body image issues felt my thin people are invalid only adds to their pain. Remember that bullying is bullying, no matter WHAT the target looks like.
Whoa whoa whoa. Different anonymous here to rebut the first anonymous' point. I'm a clinically underweight young woman who has been trying to get healthier for ads long as I can remember. Do you know what it's like for people to patronize you because they think you're anorexic or bulimic? I've always felt it extremely insulting; by that assumption it seems people know my situation better than I do and that I'm incapable of maintaining my own health. It sit was especially bad in high school when people would spread rumors and gossip-- I certainly wasn't told "24/7" how beautiful I was. In fact, I still don't get that now, so maybe you should reconsider that stereotype because I honestly don't think you have a clue what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteAs for your attack on the author-- are you kidding me? That's so horribly rude, I think you owe her an apology. She could have easily made the same assumption about you, that you attacked her because (according to your assumption) she's thinner than you and thus must have it easier than you. I don't know I could've been as tactful as she was in my reply. You shouldn't just assume you know both sides of a situation when you don't and then point fingers. After all, you know what they say happens when you assume...
Hi Second Anon!
DeleteThank you for your contribution to this highly controversial topic. I appreciate your support and am so sorry you have been a victim of other peoples ignorance yourself!
Keep fighting the good fight sister!
Byn
Well said, Robyn. I found your post after reading your comment on Brad Pilon's page. I blogged about some similar concepts here: http://wildbluewonder.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/thief-of-joy/
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts!
Thanks for the positive feedback Tamara! Ill be sure to visit your blog :)
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