This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Notre Dame chapter.
“Always remember: you’re braver than you think, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you
think.”
–Winnie the Pooh
The latest Dove Campaign for Real Beauty video blew up on social media, going viral in an unprecedented way. The video, showing a forensic sketch artist who attempts to draw a portrait of a woman based only on her descriptions of her facial features. The artist then sketches another portrait based on a description of the woman given by a stranger whom she met in the waiting area. The two pictures were placed side by side and revealed to the participants at the end, illustrating that the way every woman described themselves was much harsher and far less flattering than the description of them given by a stranger.
It’s stunning. Take a look.
The Dove Real Beauty Sketches were meant to illustrate that women are much more
critical of themselves than necessary, proposing the tagline “You are more beautiful than you
think.” Within a few days, the three-minute video appeared and reappeared in my Facebook
news feed as people caught onto its inspiring message. I’m sure every woman, teenager, and
little girl has felt at least somewhat self-conscious about their physical appearance at one point or
another. It’s sad that society and the media have created a culture where criticism is almost
automatic – criticism of both ourselves and of others – whether you’re pulling at your sweater
that doesn’t fit quite right, or silently judging someone in class who didn’t have time to put on
makeup or brush her hair that morning.
However, the video was also met with criticism from bloggers who held that while the
video attempted to make a good point, it fell short by featuring predominantly young, slender,
Caucasian women, and only glimpses of women of color. It was also noted that the video places
too much emphasis on outer beauty, with one of the participants musing, “[Beauty]…impacts the
choices and the friends we make, the jobs we go out for, the way we treat our children, it impacts
everything. It couldn’t be more critical to your happiness.” One of the most popular blog posts
by feminist blogger Jazz Brice summed it up nicely, telling her readers, “you are so, so much
more than beautiful.”
I’ve always liked the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty because it tries to feature a variety of
“real” women – curvy women, older women, and women of color – sending the message that all
women are beautiful, not just the narrow definition of beauty that is portrayed in the media. But
this video did, in fact, neglect to include the more general examples of beauty that have come to
characterize the campaign. But despite their conservative depiction of beauty in the Real Beauty
Sketches, Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty has made great efforts to redefine the traditional
perception of “beauty,” of which something everyone should take notice.
Watch the full Dove Real Beauty Sketches videos and see the pictures here.
This article is the first of a series focusing on beauty and the media.