A Guys Point of View on Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty...

True confidence is real beauty!!

What is the true meaning of confidence? Self confidence? Self esteem? The general population would define these terms as assurance: freedom from doubt; belief in one’s self and abilities, also opinions or a feeling of pride in one’s self. For many of those who truly understand what confidence is, those are they who understand that Confidence is beauty!

In the world today beauty is defined by the things a person buys, the cars they drive, houses they live in and even more specific the way they look. A person’s appearance is almost everything in the world today. People have become more focused on looks and outer appearances more than confidence and inner beauty. We see this especially among the women and young girls of our day and age. ‘’Doves Campaign for Real Beauty’’ is an organization set up to fight these common misconceptions or the worlds new shallow and distorted definition of beauty.

Dove’s campaign stresses the importance confidence and self esteem play in the roll of defining beauty. Their campaign is mainly geared toward women and young girls of our day. In our world today many women believe that there is always something wrong with their self image or appearance, this is because they have bought into what the world views as beautiful. Dove shows that diversity, self esteem, and confidence is real beauty. They portray powerful women who are truly happy because they are confident in their abilities and appearances.

When first entering the site, Dove has calm colors and images that invite you in. The page’s background invokes a warm feeling of safety and peace, by using colors such as baby blue, pink, and white. Then as your eyes are directed towards the center, there is a movie which portrays women and girls of all ages who are happy and healthy. This shows and gives off a sense of confidence and power these young girls and women have. What catch the viewers’ eye are not only the videos but also the bold comments which support Dove’s campaign. the site posts images of women and girls who suffer this shows us the pain and sadness they go through, comparable to the ones of women who are happy and healthy which show us that there is a chance to help those other women if we act now. Comments such as ‘’IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE BEAUTY IS A SOURCE OF CONFIDENCE, NOT ANXIETY’’ or ‘’ HELP MAKE OUR VISION A REALITY’’, both of which draw in visitors to the message and allow them to understand the urgency of the matter and how it affects the women in our lives.

http://www.dove.us/#/features/videos/default.aspx[cp-documentid=7049579]

“Evolution”, is a film done by dove to show the change and transformation of beauty and how far from its true meaning the world today has strayed. In the beginning it shows a plain young woman in the lime light. As time goes by it shows her being changed and pampered with makeup of all sorts hiding blemishes, discoloration and many other things the world sees fit. They change the color and style of her hair, her eyebrows; they put eye liner, mascara, lipstick and many more products on. Just when it seems that she is beautiful and finished, they computerize her. Taking her image and manipulating facial and body features to fit the world’s view of beauty. They enlarge her lips, shrink her nose, enlarge both eyes and eye brows, pull her head up so that the neck is longer and skinnier, and then they manipulate her hair. In the end the young woman who was used in the beginning was now lost under all the transformation and changes the media saw fit to be done. She was a totally different person and this is what the media used as a billboard add to portray beauty. Which puzzles me because if they had to take a model pamper and prepare her and then use a computer to distort and manipulate her image, how is it possible that people conceive this as real beauty?

Doves’ message is trying to show people that the views of the media and the beauty industries’ have drifted away from the true meaning of beauty. In media today women are portrayed as objects, sex objects, to be more specific. The perfect woman now is no longer a filled out, curvy, beautiful, and a confident woman, but a tall, thin, skinny, unhealthy woman who’s complexion is pale. Dove’s site shows women and girls of all ages, different backgrounds, shape and size but the one thing they have in common is confidence and happiness. Dove’s images and videos capture the beauty of their happiness, and it allows the world to join in and to understand what these women and girls are feeling. In the media today, to be seen as a beautiful woman you must fit the majority if not all of these criteria; a size 2, tall, thin, wide hips, a big bust(breasts), and a firm backside, because so many women and girls struggle with their self image and confidence. The media has set such a high standard for beauty that only a small percentage of women if not less can ever hope to reach it.

To make matters even worse, Dove’s studies show that the beauty industries are also contributing to the rise in low self esteem and confidence levels among women. With each passing moment new products are being made that promise to enhance some shape or form of a female’s anatomy and their appearance. There are creams that will make skin look ten years younger, pills that will enhance the features on a woman’s body or even help you lose unhealthy amounts of weight, and so much more. Today surgeries are one of the biggest operations in the beauty industries. Many women say they need to change the way they look surgically because they feel they cannot meet the beauty standards of the world. Dove campaigns and raises awareness of the dangers these operations, creams and pills have. They say that it affects and influences the minds of girls at a very young age. This is why the parents of girls should talk to them about such things before they buy into the media and beauty industries.

Studies have been done by Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self Esteem commissioned; June 2008, showing and explaining the rise in the self esteem crisis among women and girls. Findings show that seven in ten girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members. 75% of girls with low self esteem are reported engaging in negative activities, such as disordered eating, cutting, bullying, smoking or drinking when feeling badly about themselves. This is compared to the other 25% of girls with high self esteem. This study shows that because of the high rise in low self esteem, more and more young girls are either seriously hurting themselves or breaking the law in some way. Another study shows that 57% of girls have a mother who criticizes her own looks. This is an important study because how are we supposed to fight this problem and make a difference when the people who these young girls look up to are a part of the problem. When mothers question themselves and their appearance it makes it that much easier for the daughters to do so too. As parents and especially mothers, there needs to be strong and confident role model set so that these young girls have someone to look to for help and advice. There is nothing more powerful than a confident mother who loves and takes care of herself. Especially because more than one- third (34%) of girls with low self esteem believe that they are not good enough daughters compared to the 9% of girls with high self esteem. You can see now the importance the parents and especially the roll a mother plays in these girls’ lives.

Women see beauty very differently than men do, because it affects the majority of them more, although men play a big part in influencing what beauty is to women. Women just want to be loved and wanted just like any human being would. This is where the problem is formed and the true meaning of beauty is lost, because men seem to drool and fall head over heels for a tall, skinny, busty model this makes women feel as if in order to receive the same kind of attention they too must look and act like these models. Women are not all the same, the world is diverse and the problem comes when they realize that they cannot meet these standards or criteria. This leads to low self esteem and a lack of confidence among wives, mothers and daughters. Being a guy I will admit that sometimes I too find myself buying into the media’s definition of beauty, but then I realized that the most beautiful women in my life don’t fit the media’s definition of beautiful. I realize now that what makes someone beautiful is not so much her looks or what they have, but the confidence they have in themselves to stand out and be happy with what they are given and who they are. True confidence is real beauty!!

What hit me the hardest was the women and girls portrayed on Dove’s campaign, they remind me so much of the women in my life women such as; my mother, aunties, sisters, cousins, grandmothers and even friends. Dove shows that self esteem and a lack of confidence is a problem many women face especially women we love and care for, however it also shows ways we can contribute to ease their burden. The site shows us as viewers and especially men that we play a big role in the solution to the many problems women face, its whether or not we choose to help is up to us.

In closing “Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty” is a very powerful and touching movement; it also promotes a sense of well being. Their message and site applies not only to women and girls but to everyone because male or female we all affect the outcome of this problem.