Dove Commercial (Girls are under pressure)
What's wrong with the commercial above? Yes, we know Dove is showing the initiative
they have put forward to letting girls know they are beautiful, even if they
don't look like the females they see projected in the media. But, if you were to
put aside that fact, you would see the dominant discourse the commercial is
feeding to viewers. First, the whole fact
there are only girls there professing they are beautiful, no boys, is as
if to say, boys are not interested in their looks or face self esteem issues
from their view of how they look. Furthermore, boys aren't affected by the media
and what it portrays males to look like in terms of beauty. Even more so, the
commercial says "girls are under more
pressure than ever", implying females are being pressurized the most by
what the media is giving, and makes it seem as if males aren't. Of course, that
is untrue; as boys face pressure to fit into the manly persona. Which in fact,
could be more than girls, because it's not just media, but society pressuring
boys. Second, in the commercial, it shows
Dove making girls feel good about themselves by
making them believe their beautiful.
You probably thinking what's the wrong in that. Well think
about this, what does beauty give a person. It doesn't make them feel happy,
does it make them rich (not unless you're looking for a career in modelling and
you even become a successful one), doesn't make you smart, get you a job, maybe
provide you money ( but not in the most morally right way),doesn't give you
good friends, or get you loved. The only
thing beauty does is nothing for the average person. So why is it so important
to people? Well, this is because media has feed to us from our youngest age, that beauty is important. You can't be happy, loved, successful,
socially accepted or even live a life unless you are beautiful. A persons goal
is to strive to be beautiful, no matter what; especially for females. That is
why, if you say see a female in the media who is successful, even in something unrelated
to looks, she is sure to be made to look beautiful; with excessive makeup, air
brushing, fashionable clothes, nice hair and Photoshop. For instance, in the
Katy Perry video Roar, Katy is stuck on a deserted island and yet she still
wears makeup, so she looks beautiful. When was the last time you watched any
medium, like television, and you saw a female waking up in the morning and she
has makeup on, she's taking a bath and she has makeup on, or she in some
setting where it would be logically impossible or near to it to have makeup on
and she does. Why, beauty is everything, if you're not beautiful or have
something on you that makes you look close to being beautiful, then you're out
of the norm, or even more so no one attempts to be out of this norm. Moreover, what is the best compliment a typical female
would want to get on average, it's not your smart, or cool, but your beautiful
or pretty. That is why, it is seen as
being so offensive in the media if a person is called ugly or unattractive ( especially
for females). So much so, probably the first time you have ever heard a female called ugly is Susan Boyle.
By the Dove commercial showing girls feeling proud and happy, by thinking their beautiful, is
truly showing to females beauty
does matter. The whole point of the females believing I am beautiful, and the
excitement they get from it implies and encourages media's perception that
beauty matters, and feeling and being beautiful matters; when truly it doesn't,
and shouldn't. So, the more we allow media to feed females the dominant discourse
of beauty, the more we care about beauty, and the more we provide business to the beauty companies and preoccupy
ourselves with something irrelevant to our lives.
Questions to think about:
1. Why is beauty so important in our society?
2. Why is it people have better self esteem when they feel beautiful
or at least think they would if they were beautiful?
3. What attributes should really matter about a person?
4. Why would Dove promote better self esteem for people when they represent
a industry that pushes looks as being number 1?
5. When should beauty matter to a person?
-Lydia
Great post, Lydia. Beauty's importance in our society is a result of many factors such as history and the media. They've emblazoned in our minds that our physical appearance is everything. The attribute that really matters about a person is their capacity for love and generosity. Dove is simply trying to make themselves look good to consumers, by using their Dove Self-Esteem Fund as a way to garner more revenue.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca for your comment. I'm glad you have gotten the message my post presented on beauty and the obsession the media has caused society and females to have about beauty. I agree " the capacity for love and generosity" is what should really matter about a person, as well as other non physical attributes. I too agree that Dove is trying to look good for consumers, and is taking an easy and sneaky approach in doing so.
ReplyDelete-Lydia
Good post Lydia. Beauty is something that is taken into consideration by others a lot. In my opinion, I think that one of the factors that gets you somewhere in life, would be beauty. Yes, you need your education and everything, but look around, theres some that have rarely done anything but got somewhere in their life with their looks. To answer your first question, i think beauty is important because everyone wants to look beautiful? Disagree? when someone feels that they look beautiful on the outside, they would feel beautiful on the inside. Everyone has self-conscious where they want to fit in and all, and beauty does play a part in that as well.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do see your point Dharshiga when you say "theres some that have rarely done anything but got somewhere in their life with their looks", if your referring to people who use their looks to get what they want. In truth, you can't be happy or achieve anything looks won't buy you, which when you think about it, it is a lot.
DeleteWhy should anyone want to care about looking beautiful, or viewing themselves as being beautiful, when for the average person it will not achieve you anything. Why should anyone have to feel beautiful on the inside or out, when beauty should just be like a quality someone has. Like some people are tall or some are short, some have deep voices or some have high, but it shouldn't make a person feel any less or more in self esteem, it's just a attribute they have. Beauty shouldn't be something we use to fit in or strive to be, or use as a way to make our self esteem better. True is, beauty is never standard and never permanent.
Beauty can not be defined, it is different for everyone. Mozart did not see music the same way as Bach saw it and yet both the most beautiful compositions in history(Different but beautiful). The beauty you are talking about is determined by the media. If you watch the television mad men, the advertisers put a general idea of what beauty is in people's minds so they would buy a certain "product". Dove is trying to be different but we must all remember that Dove is guilty of using half naked women as much as l'oreal or garnier. This entire campaign has one purpose and one purpose only, to sell soap.
ReplyDeleteI do agree Waleed beauty cannot be defined, but the real probably is why beauty is even strived for, whether it be any kind. I agree that the one purpose Dove is doing is just trying to sell their brand ( hence why they advertise their soap in the commercial).
DeleteNice post Lydia! I think everyone has a different definition of beauty, but a lot of people in our society see it as something that is on the outside, completely forgetting that it's the inside what counts also. It's become so important because the media constantly shown women and men who are skinny, fit and look just drop dead gorgeous that everyone wants to look like them. I think people have better self-esteems because they fit in with the what society calls the "norm." I mean if a group of people were lined up against a wall and everyone was tall and skinny but only one person was short and slightly plump then they would feel left out but, if they were just as skinny and tall as the other people than they would fit right in. I think personality should matter a bit more because you can't be with a "hot", "sexy" person if their personality is just terrible..well you can but that just wouldn't be smart.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment Monica, I like the analogy that you used! Yes, I do agree people want to fit into the norm to feel accepted. I agree you definitely won't want to be with "a "hot", "sexy" person if their personality is just terrible..", and even if you are, you sure won't be happy. Just goes to show another reason why beauty is not needed to be preoccupied about.
DeleteWow Lydia, that was amazing. I never would have looked at the commercial in that light. I never realized that I was one of those people who has been brainwashed into thinking that looks actually do matter. The way that I always looked at it was that if you were beautiful, everything just came easier. Making friends would be easier, getting a job would be easier, just life would be a whole lot easier, but I was wrong, Yes being good looking may give a person confidence and allow them to succeed in life, but I realize that it is not the looks that helps them succeed, but instead who they are and how their personality is.
ReplyDeleteand what their personality is.*
DeleteThanks Steven for your comment! Your comment is a good example of the reason why I wanted to write the post, and shows how the media has convinced society into thinking beauty is everything, and caring about your looks and what is considered beautiful. If you were take a look at people who are beautiful, or at least think they are or focus on it, it truly doesn't play as much of importance as let's say intelligence or personality, and doesn't get you anywhere you truly want to be in life.
DeleteSince we have higher standard life living than before, we start to pay more attention on the way how we look. Think about it, if you go for a job interview. You dress up nicely and look pretty, you usually receive good impression at first. In addition, media lead us think how beauty should look like. If you watch the commercial, how many times do you see commercials present girls with good looking body and flawless skin? I see it frequently, to the point that I start to wonder if that’s the real beauty. But in the end, I realized as long as you accept your look, then it doesn't matter about what other think of you. Beauty is only shine when you feel confidence about yourself.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts towards why beauty is so important to society would be that if a person is considered beautiful or handsome, they are accepted and admired. People who feel beautiful, tend to have more confidence and carry themselves with more self esteem because they feel as though they look good enough to not be judged or spoken negatively about. I believe that appearance is not so important. A person's personality are valued more to me than appearance.
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