I think pretty much everyone's seen the
new Dove "Beauty Sketches" ad about how you are “more beautiful than you think," but, if not, here it is:
“my primary problem with this Dove ad is
that it’s not really challenging the message like it makes us feel
like it is. It doesn’t really tell us that the definition of beauty
is broader than we have been trained to think it is, and it doesn’t
really tell us that fitting inside that definition isn’t the most
important thing. It doesn’t really push back against the constant
objectification of women. All it’s really saying is that you’re
actually not quite as far off from the narrow definition as you might
think that you are (if you look like the featured women, I guess).”
Maybe you are closer to standards of
having a conventionally attractive appearance than you realize. Or
maybe you are exactly as homely as you think are. Maybe your crows'
feet really are that noticeable. Maybe you're not young, not
healthy, and don't have high-status features relative to the
standards of the person looking at you. The only reason those things
should affect the love your friends and family have for you is if
your friends and family are jerks. I know that being pretty really
DOES matter – it's a huge social asset. But the problem with being
not pretty isn't a lack of prettiness, it's that we live in a society
with seriously confused priorities, thanks in part to corporate
interests that survive by exploiting our insecurities.
I have a few more additions, though.
Aside from this campaign, I'm not a fan of Dove's parent company,
Unilever. If there is a social or political issue you care about,
google “boycott Unilever” and you too will probably find
something not to like: exploitative labor practices, support of
oppressive political regimes, complicity in the plight of Pygmies, an
uneven environmental track record, animal testing, products of
dubious safety, ties to Monsanto, etc.
You'll also find allegations of racism.
This is old news, but if you have forgotten or missed it the first
time, Unilever also owns Ponds and another brand called “Fair and
Lovely,” both of which market skin-lightening creams in Asia. The
politics of these products are well beyond the sphere of what I can
intelligently discuss, and Unilever is far from the only manufacturer
of bleaching creams. But they don't exactly encourage the diversity
that Dove ostensibly promotes. I realize, as someone who is about as
white as a person can be, that I am not exactly the target audience,
and it's not my business to tell anyone (especially someone of a
culture and coloration different from my own) what tone they should
want their skin to be, but to paraphrase Charlton Heston: Unilever,
you can bleach my freckles off my cold, dead face.
Fair and Lovely
Pond's White Beauty:
More White Beauty:
Pond's Flawless White (this one is
super-creepy):
Other conflicting messages come from
the advertising for another Unilever brand, Axe (in other countries,
“Lynx”) body spray. The “real” beauties Dove lauds are most
definitely not the admirers one is promised to attract by dousing
one's self in this swill. Somebody recently made a mashup of Dove
and Axe ads, but it's blocked in the US. This clip sort of shows it
though:
So, Dove, asks, “If you could talk to
a girl in your life about beauty, confidence, and self-esteem, what
would you say?” I'd say wash up with something inexpensive that makes
your skin feel nice to you and that doesn't trouble your conscience,
and don't let advertising from the world's third largest consumer
goods company cleverly exploit your insecurity about having your
insecurities exploited. Literally and figuratively, people will say
anything to sell you soap.
Drop down the “choose brand” menu.
UPDATE:
