Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign…I want to but I just can’t. Here's why...
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| Gil Zamora, the forensic artist |
Yesterday, a close friend was telling me about an apparent
online sensation I would be interested in. He told me Dove was having a
forensic artist draw women based on the descriptions they presented, next he
would draw a portrait based on the descriptions other people described.
Apparently it is bringing people to tears, because the first portrait always
looks like some deformed nether-creature. (I exaggerate, but why is the first picture "ugly", I don't get it. In the Real Beauty Campaign it is ok to call that other woman ugly and cry about here, but thank god you don't really look like that. Right? So confused.)
The thing is, I am really
suspicious of Dove’s “campaign.” But let me clarify,
1. I
absolutely agree we need to reevaluate media messages, as you can tell by
reading past posts.
2. I
appreciate Dove for venturing into something new, and striving to make a
positive contribution.
However, the first thing I thought was, “Why only women?” I
just feel like it portrays all women as insecure, and self-loathing. Maybe “we” are, and maybe the media
contributes, I don’t think anyone feels there isn’t something they would want
to “fix.” But in the video I watched, the woman said her mother told her she
had a big chin. Who knows the context of that original conversation; maybe it
was a comparison to the rest of the women in her family, I don’t know. Further,
I would be interested if men had the same responses. I know men who buy dove
products. Wouldn’t a real beauty campaign include them as well? I mean, lets go into
heteronormal-marketing-land for a minute.
I get it, in order to convince us we need to buy your product you need
to convince us we need it. That’s been going on for a while now thanks to
Edward Bernays’s public relations contributions. However, what I think Dove is
riding the line on, is telling women
that they are in-fact insecure. They are saying, “See what all those other brands do, they tell you your ugly and now
I have provided proof that you believed them. Here’s some man, he is going to
draw a super deformed version of your description, then I am going to bring in
a stranger, and from memory they will envision you as a perfect human
being. By-the-way, you are welcome, and buy our lotion in the gift shop on the
way out.” (Also, notice there were men participating in the second half of the
portrait drawing thing. Giving descriptions, but not the first. Maybe reinforcing
women’s “need” to feel beautiful by men, “See this dude said you were beautiful
so it’s real!” Sorry guys once I turn it on, it’s hard to stop it.)
But maybe this is my problem, because there is no way I will
ever totally trust a company that has something to gain from my so-called self realizations. Dove needs you to believe
they are the good guys, and maybe they are, but I doubt it.
NY Times article on the campaign:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/business/media/dove-ad-on-womens-self-image-creates-an-online-sensation.html?ref=fashion&_r=0
Dove's website:
http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/
!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!!!!
Apparently everybody else is rolling their eyes too
Ad Week
5 reasons why some critics are hating Dove's real beauty sketches
Huffington Post
Dove's 'Real Beauty Sketches' tell Women you are more beautiful than you think
Slate magazine
What critics are missing with Dove's new campaign
I really enjoy reading your take on things it never even registered with me why didn't use men in this campaign. I guess men aren't insecure about anything right? Wrong! lol I guess it would be de-masculinizing to use men and Beauty in the same sentence right? SMH
ReplyDeleteThank you K! Your point didn't register to me either. Dove COULDN'T include men, because their rational would crumble! Further, I think they used male commenters to reinforce that the "positive" description was more accurate.
DeleteI watched this about a week or two ago and I remember feeling really ticked how the women got so emotional that other people saw them as being more beautiful than they saw themselves. If women want to feel more confident about themselves (if anyone does) they need to stop putting so much importance on outward appearances, because, guess what, we get old and saggy and don't look like "ourselves" anymore anyway. This isn't new. Yeah, it's nice to feel "pretty" but honestly, Dove, find a new angle. I know I don't need some stranger to tell me I'm beautiful to feel validated. Honestly, I don't give a fuck. Now, if a stranger were to tell me I'm intelligent or witty or clever- hell yes. And, yes, I do consider myself vain. I'd probably be crying because of the way the forensic guy drew me-- fuck you, forensic dude, you suck at your job and your drawings aren't accurate.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, I think it was Slate Magazine, brought up the fact that many women who model still deal with insecurity. We need to get away from this notion that Beauty (capitalized to signify a concept) is an outwardly obtainable reality. It is a social construction. It is fluid, and changes with trends, politics, and culture. We as a global community need to celebrate diversity, and find value in not only peoples outward appearance, but their contributions. I don't think it is vain to seek appreciation, however I think it is futile to seek Beauty in a market whose foundations are supported on women's insecurities.
DeleteThank you Mary for commenting! You are amazing and brilliant and just so happen to be beautiful!
Also the fact that the artist himself was actually aware of the intent of this project and may have skewed the work either knowingly or subconsciously. As you pointed out we saw snippets of conversation pasted together on video there is no real proof that the drawings are how these women actually described themselves. I mean at least 1 in 5 women would give an accurate representation of themselves.
ReplyDelete