Has anyone noticed the Dove campaign for putting real women in their advertisements for beauty products?
I noticed it in the soap aisle at some point in the last year. Three women in their bras and underpants. Only difference was that they were real shaped. They were a bit more slender than the women in the link, but they were real shaped. They were shaped like me.
I thought "Cool!"
Then a friend sent me this tonight.
Via: VideoSift
I think maybe alot of people know about this already, but do they know that I still haven't met 1 single high school girl who is happy with her appearance? The only ones that stand a shot are the athletic girls.
No matter what they look like, they pick one part of their body and they declare it isn't perfect. The pressure on them is crazy. Mostly because young boys believe the propaganda too, that skinny is pretty. Fat is ugly. Ugly isn't cool, it is undesireable and no one wants it.
No one really talks about anorexia and bulimia much anymore but it never went away, it just went from being shocking to being usual. What the hell?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Thank you for sharing this. I disliked my looks quite a bit when I was in high school. In fact, it wasn't until I gave birth to my second child that I became content with my appearance. Though right now I weigh more than I every did in my life, my self esteem is higher than it ever was. This is because I do not have the time nor the will to sit and cry about my looks (which I think are great, by the way :0)as I am too busy being proud and caring for my wonderful family. However, how do we raise our daughters to have them believe that they are beautiful and that their inner beauty is longer lasting, more purposeful and most important when this world is telling them otherwise? Is it by creating a relationship with them that is more influencial than this world? Or is it by raising them to have a goal in life that is other than achieving a "perfect" look? Perhaps combination of both?
Hi Zhenya your thoughts are mine exactly...it takes a woman i think into her 30s nearly to find satisfaction with her appearance, which leaves about 15 or more years (when we are making the most important decisions of our lives) when we are in a slump of low self esteem.
I mostly think about our daughters and our sons...how to raise them up to be resilient to the pressures outside. I know for me, growing up in the 80s, I always felt like I would never be one of the thin girls, but I wasn't filled with self loathing, inclined to an eating disorder or otherwise struggling alot with my appearance. But that was then, and the pressure, which i think has always been there, has seeped in to such an extent that often times moms will encourage their daughters toward thinness out of "empathy" for the struggle they themselves have.
I want Addy to be happy with herself and not pick apart one part of her body, be it her tummy or her nose or her arms or whatever and sit there and declare its not perfect and she hates it. Its almost like its the popular thing for a girl to do, declare they hate some part of their body and are so burdened by its failure to be "perfect" as defined by the images on magazine covers, billboards or fashion layouts.
Truthfully I remember when I looked at Elle as a 15 year old, that was about the only time I ever really hated my appearance.
Great post. I struggled with an eating disorder for ten years, then with my weight. Only recently have I figured out that all of my obsession was not making me happy. Taking care of myself (running , eating well, etc) makes me happy. Enjoying my life makes me happy. I hope that there will be more 'real looking' women in the media.
Looking at this link http://shapeofamother.blogspot.com/ recently inspired me. To be honest, I had no idea what motherhood really looked like. How would I? Sure, we all make jokes about stretch marks and sagging breasts, but what do we see? Gwen Stefani 'baby weight' pics? Terrible!!
for me it depends. Some days am almost in love with the way I look and sometimes I ca't stand my bee-hind's size! Its human nature never to be satisfied.
I know the dove add you're talking about. It was all over readers Digest last year! Then I saw the TV add and thought wow, look that's me there! :-)
Yesterday night i watched a programm on Anorexia. a psychologist was talking about the study she's making on those Anon bloggers. She spoke of the danger of it all and how the odelling industry isn't helping. It was awful believe me. These adolescents post stuff like "hunger hurts but starvation pays" and post picttures of walking bag of ones and call that beauty. Beauty is relative that's for sure but whatever I saw yesterday, i can objectively say, was certainly not beauty. Its a disease.
Fitèna
I'm 31 and I still have plenty of issues with my looks. Most days I don't think about it too much (too busy with other things I guess), but once in a while something grabs hold of me and I absolutely hate the way I look. I've struggled with weight issues all of my adult life and that is the one plague that dampers my idea of self-worth. I hate to admit that, particularly because I love who I am. Usually I can point out all the things that make me physically unique and I love each part more than before. But, then I'll have days where I realize how judged I am and I get so frustrated.
I think it is wonderful for mothers to teach their children to focus on being a good person. The problem is, that won't necessarily deter feelings of self-loathing. My mom raised me to be a strong woman (and I think I turned out that way...something I've very proud of), but she unknowingly passed on all of her physical issues as well. I think the best gift a mother can give a child is a demonstration of self-love (don't turn that in to something dirty! haha). A mom who truly loves herself will pass that legacy onto her children. Should I ever get knocked up one day and have kids, I hope I'd be in a place where I can pass this lesson on to them.
Post a Comment