The Dove brand
is rooted in listening and believing in women. Based on the findings of a
major global study, The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report, Dove launched
a campaign for Real Beauty in 2004. The videos I posted shows the evolution or
transformation of an "average" women turned into an unrealistic
form of media beauty. The other video is of a male who is turned into an
unrealistic form of muscle and impossible body shaping. These images are
harmful!
Ads,
billboards, and media swarm our daily life and instill the notion that these
fake people are the standard of beauty. Dove is trying to push the images to
show what it takes electronically to make a perfect women or male for ad
campaigns. Society has shaped itself in some part to media's false advertising
of what people should look like. Makeup and hair stores used to be non-existent
except for the occasional Sally's Beauty. People are now spending paychecks on
eye shadow kits and foundations from the stores like Ulta Beauty and companies
like Sephora and bareMinerals.
The Dove
campaign is not harmful but highlights the harmful beauty messages Americans
see daily. One of those harmful campaigns was the Victoria Secret's campaign
called the "perfect body". A petition was posted on change.org and
ultimately forced Victoria secret to adjust their advertising. “Every
day women are bombarded with advertisements aimed at making them feel insecure
about their bodies in the hope that they will spend money on products that will
supposedly make them happier and more beautiful,” the petition reads. Another
interesting source is The Self-Activation Effect of Advertisements: Ads
Can Affect Whether and How Consumers Think About the Self,” by Debra Trampe,
Diederik A. Stapel and Frans W. Siero, The Journal of Consumer Research.
According to the authors looking at an object intended to enhance beauty makes
women feel worse about themselves. One way to counteract these messages would
be to just not see them. This idea is extremely hard and would take a
lot of interpersonal discipline to remember most ads do not display the real
person featured. Limiting your expose to these harmful ads may be the best way
to combat negative beauty and body advertising.
What was
your initial reaction to the women on the billboard at the end of the
first video or the male at the end of the second? How often
do advertisements like these speak to you? What are things you love
about your body? What does your body do for you?
I hate to be the skeptic here, because your absolutely right insofar as the messages that these brands bring to the forefront of life. The biggest issues that confront me though is that we are talking about brands. There are no organic mediums for change. We are discussing Manipulation Jeans and Dove brand products, each of which focuses on exposing the things that make our society problematic, but they are still attempting to sell us things based on this idea that they are exposing the truth.
ReplyDeleteIt's very weird, considering the goal of a company is to make money. But I think that what these brands are doing is inherently good as no one else would have the societal sway of an agency like Dove.
The images that we are force-fed through advertisements are indeed pretty twisted, but what does that say about our society?
I guess my thoughts upon watching both videos is that technology is truly amazing. I never would have guessed that through the magic of photoshop you could make the lanky and scrawny guy from the second video into what looks more like a football star. I think this all has to do with money. Focusing on all the images that we are given, and then following them up with reality type ads is great considering its getting exposure, but its all still ads.
On one hand, its great. You can make yourself look however you want with makeup, photoshop, and the power of the net. On the other hand it hurts as we are really saying "its not okay to be a real person."
Should we sacrifice this autonomy for promoting more wholesome images? What could be the cost of this? How might society react to this?
To be quite honest, the model on the billboard did not surprise me at all. It is well-known that advertisements promote impossible body image standards. I know this in part to my older sister who uses Photoshop daily in her photography. On the other hand, my own body image issues and the journey I took to overcome them made me aware of such discrepancies in advertisements. I read many articles on unrealistic body standards imposed on women by the media. When watching the video I did notice that I began to relate the image correction with the use of filters and photography apps on my iPhone.
ReplyDeleteLike most people my age, I enjoy using Instagram for the use of its filters. I liked it so much that I ended up purchasing photography apps that do many cool things like whitening teeth, removing blemishes, and even using the "shape" option to resize parts of yourself.I had never equated this with Photoshop and media body standards but the connection cannot be denied. Popular social media applications and filters encourage everyday men and women to change their appearance to fit with society's standards of beauty.
I appreciate this topic because it forced the realization that my personal use of photoshopping apps and filters only helps to preserve this unhealthy standard imposed upon women. People that are Instagram famous use several different filters before their photos are posted. Given the more personal feeling Instagram has, this has to be especially influential on adolescent females as they embrace the social media driven culture of today. It sends the signal that women can attain a level of perfection outside of media advertisements and campaigns. It's definitely unhealthy and something that should be addressed in schools from middle school throughout high school.
I don't include Snapchat filters with this because that is for my own enjoyment rather than a desire to conform.
Watching these videos just reminds me of the constant competition to be the most beautiful to the point that it is not even real anymore. It saddens me that perfectly beautiful people are being altered and presented to the public in images that some people do not even realize have been altered. I don't know which is worse- deceiving the public into thinking that people who look like that really exist, or the public accepting that these people have been altered but are trying to measure up to them anyway. By now, I am sure the majority of people are aware that most of the beautiful images have been photoshopped. Not only that, but beautiful people in Hollywood are frequently getting plastic surgery and changing their faces, like Megan Fox. I do not understand why a person who looks like that feels the need to get plastic surgery to change the shape of her features. It is like a race for beauty that can never be won.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I have seen how these kinds of images have affected my friends and myself and it can be very stressful. There is always something that you can find to dislike about your appearance. I do not want to live like that and so I choose not to. I barely even watch T.V. anyway and I am glad about that, because commercials are garbage. Beauty in my opinion is subjective, BUT is also very easily influential to other people. I love the example from Mean Girls where the popular girl gets her shirt cut up by some other girls just where her breasts are supposed to be, but she wears the shirt anyway and the next day all the other girls are wearing their shirts like that. If the right people promote beauty in a certain way, other people will follow along with it. This is why we must all decide our own beauty standards and support other people's idea of beauty in themselves. It is more important to be healthy and happy than to appeal to someone else's ideal of beauty.
I love my body, because I no longer allow media messages to depict how I should feel about myself. I am healthy and will be able to participate in just about any activity requiring the use of my body, so I am grateful. I could go on about this topic forever, but I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for the great blog topic!
Watching these videos just reminds me of the constant competition to be the most beautiful to the point that it is not even real anymore. It saddens me that perfectly beautiful people are being altered and presented to the public in images that some people do not even realize have been altered. I don't know which is worse- deceiving the public into thinking that people who look like that really exist, or the public accepting that these people have been altered but are trying to measure up to them anyway. By now, I am sure the majority of people are aware that most of the beautiful images have been photoshopped. Not only that, but beautiful people in Hollywood are frequently getting plastic surgery and changing their faces, like Megan Fox. I do not understand why a person who looks like that feels the need to get plastic surgery to change the shape of her features. It is like a race for beauty that can never be won.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I have seen how these kinds of images have affected my friends and myself and it can be very stressful. There is always something that you can find to dislike about your appearance. I do not want to live like that and so I choose not to. I barely even watch T.V. anyway and I am glad about that, because commercials are garbage. Beauty in my opinion is subjective, BUT is also very easily influential to other people. I love the example from Mean Girls where the popular girl gets her shirt cut up by some other girls just where her breasts are supposed to be, but she wears the shirt anyway and the next day all the other girls are wearing their shirts like that. If the right people promote beauty in a certain way, other people will follow along with it. This is why we must all decide our own beauty standards and support other people's idea of beauty in themselves. It is more important to be healthy and happy than to appeal to someone else's ideal of beauty.
I love my body, because I no longer allow media messages to depict how I should feel about myself. I am healthy and will be able to participate in just about any activity requiring the use of my body, so I am grateful. I could go on about this topic forever, but I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for the great blog topic!
After watching both of those videos, my first reaction was that it is incredible what goes into making the perfect billboard model. The female in particular looks completely different. If you had put the actual model and the billboard model side by side, I thin I would have a hard time telling you they were the same person. Dove is a great campaign for this though; they really are trying to advocate to all females and males that what you see is not what you get. However, Tesa does make a fair point that it is really hard to look past the fact that this is a digitally altered image and not real life. As a little girl or boy seeing all these images and basically growing up knowing that you will never be able to look like that can be very depressing. It is a nice change of pace that Dove and other people and organizations like Aerie and Alicia Keys are trying to show that real beauty does exist and that it is better than what a computer can produce.
ReplyDeleteI think that some people are born loving their bodies but for most it takes a longer time to appreciate what their body can do for them. I know personally that being okay with the way I look takes some time. I know that I go through multiple dress changes before we go out for the night because I do not like the way it looks. But when it comes down to it, I love what I can do and where this body has taken me.
Although I was aware of the hidden (or not so hidden) fabrications of today’s media, It was still a cringe worthy cite to watch the lies unfold in front of my eyes. The woman featured in the commercial had a completely different appearance at the end of the video. It was actually quite disturbing but what was worse was the hidden message, the message that told women that they will never be enough by simply being themselves. Watching the video featuring the male model was very insightful for me. I think we often times forget that males also struggle with body image. The video highlights the constant insecurities that many men battle with on a day to day basis. The pressures to be buff and have the perfect arms, abs, height and facial structure takes just as much a toll on the mental state of men as the pressures to be hot and sexy does for women.
ReplyDeletePersonally speaking it is very seldom that these kind of advertisements speak to me, maybe subconsciously, as I enjoy taking part in the clothing, makeup, and hair trends that are often times advertised on television but even still I am grateful to say I never lost sight of who I truly am and the love I have for my body and complexion never dwindled. My body gives me confidence, I embrace my curves, I have grown to love and accept my flaws, and I appreciate raw and natural beauty.
Your use of the videos brought to mind the slogans a lot of us hear while growing up, e.g. "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," "one man's ugly is another man's beautiful," "its not outside, but what's on the inside that counts," etc. It also reminded me of the fact that with technology and media use at an unprecedented high (and sure to get higher), we've kind of become detached from viewing ourselves in realistic ways. I don't refer to simply having unrealistic beauty expectations, but as a means of seeing ourselves and others not as flesh-and-blood people, but as mediated by technology and our captured image. Without getting too existentialist, I'm stressing that our reliance on and compliance with technology and adaptive measures like airbrushing takes away something of our humanity and pushes us that much closer to being pseudo-cyborgs (determined considerably more by the 'reality' we can imagine than what we find to be true through empirical, one-on-one interaction. I realize this sounds off-topic. Do any of you share my thoughts, agree with what I'm getting at?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to Jackie’s thoughts after watching the videos. I too have seen them before and I remember being surprised at first, but now I’m well aware of the different tools and apps and I’m able to think a little deeper about how they can affect body image. Technology has changed and improved so much since that first video released. And like Jackie said, now can edit images of ourselves straight from our phones.
ReplyDeleteI steer clear from these editing tools because I know from personal experience how seeing yourself in a new “improved” way can have a negative effect on how you see yourself when that wears off and you are back to your natural self. For example, if you see what you look like with a tinier waist, larger chest, and a thigh gap, you are probably going to wish you had those real things every time you look in the mirror. If you post a picture on social media of yourself with those “improvements” you will probably feel the urge to edit every single picture you post of yourself after that.
Having the technology to edit pictures of ourselves so easily from our phones means that not only are we seeing unrealistic images in the media, but also on our social media feeds- so all day long!
Thanks for sharing Tesa!
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy the Dove campaign commercials, and I’m usually surprised by just how much a make-up artist and a computer can do! To see the transformation of the woman in the first video is crazy…what I think is important is to remind ourselves that the woman is beautiful at the beginning just as she is at the end. That video reminds me to think of myself that way…before I put on the make-up and fix my hair…I am beautiful then too! The male video is super interesting as well and like said in the video probably less talked about. I am sure the same is for guys, that media portrays an unrealistic expectation of men’s bodies. We all have to realize and encourage one another to appreciate our beauty in our unique ways.
I think how often that I take my body for granted. I am grateful to be able to dance and walk around the LSU lakes, climb the stairs to my office, and everything else I get to do because of it! I love my eyes, I have green eyes like my mother and sister and while we all look completely different; we have that in common. I’ve always cherished that.
I am only speaking from personal opinion and I do not have any actual facts, but I believe these types of advertisements have a more damaging affect on women than men. I do not feel like men are as harmed by seeing images of extremely fit males as women are by seeing super thin and sexy females in advertisements. We have recently seen the trend of "Dad bods" for males and we don't really have an equivalent, at least to my knowledge, for females. I guess the closest thing we have are these Dove campaigns that teach women your body is beautiful no matter what size or shape it is. Personally, I do not feel any sort of desire to be extremely ripped with huge muscles after seeing advertisements like that. But I can understand why it is desired, by males and females, to look like the models at the end of these videos. Jaaybs brought up a good point earlier in the comment section by stating that, in the end, Dove is still trying to sell you a product. Sure, their tactics are more including of women with body image issues, but at the end of the day Dove wants you to buy Dove products. I just thought that was a very good point to be made and I appreciate others for pointing that out to me.
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction to both of the videos were surprise and then comfort. I'm comforted honestly by the fact that we all know that people in magazines and advertisements have been digitally edited. However, it is still amazing to see how much is edited though. It is sad to know that even though we are aware that these images are altered, I still typically find myself comparing myself to what the image of the perfect body is. This happens out of my conscious awareness most of the time because images are more powerful than words in our memory. That is why self-talk is so important to counteract society's expectations on us. Through my own health and fitness journey, I have learned to appreciate what is healthy for my body instead of trying to achieve an unattainable body. I have learned to embrace the kind of body that I have and focus on feeding, nurturing, and exercising it so that I can function to my best ability. I have learned how much a healthy lifestyle can help your mental health as well and this is what motivates me to continue on this path. I appreciate the Dove movement and how they are trying to bring light to how distorted these images are and how harmful they are to our minds.
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ReplyDeleteI remember a college professor showing us the same dove evolution video, and at the time, I was shocked! I didn't realize that photoshop was used THAT much on billboards, in magazines, or any media for that matter. Even now, knowing how much images are altered, I am still surprised to see how extreme the change is. Both of these videos do a great job of showing that. I personally would like to see more videos and images to help make people more aware of this. It is easy for me to forget the reality of it when images are ingrained in our heads over and over again. I have compared myself to models in the past, and it takes a conscious effort for me to remember that they are not real. As I have gotten older, I have learned to love my body for what it can do, more so than what it looks like. I have always enjoyed running, and I appreciate that my body can do that. Unfortunately, I will always be able to find something I don't like about my appearance, but when I find myself having those thoughts I try to think about all of the things I DO like about it.
ReplyDeleteHi Tesa,
ReplyDeleteI think that your topic is highly relevant and without a doubt is a sad reality most girls face. Both videos were shocking in the sense that the "final product" is unrealistic standards of beauty. I have seen the first dove video of the women before, and I always found it impressive. To me, ads like those affect a girl's self-esteem, confidence and self-love in so many ways. It is a very deceiving message. Girls see how "perfect" this women in ads are and in their search for that "perfect beauty" they engage in self-destructive behaviors such as eating disorder, depression, etc. I do think that there should be more campaigns like this dove one, to encourage girls and make them see the truth behind those deceiving ads. I also think that policies should be put into place when it comes of what should be advertised in terms of their impact in girls and boys as well.
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ReplyDeleteTesa,
ReplyDeleteMuch like some of the other commenters, I am not surprised by the technologies available and the innovation with regards to enhancements like those depicted in the videos. It is a bit scary that technology has advanced in this way, however. Whether it is Photoshop or simply manipulating pictures with filters on various apps, the temptation to be dissatisfied with our faces and bodies as they are is ever-present. I agree that limiting exposure to these harmful images could be beneficial, especially to young girls.
I like that you asked what we like about our bodies, though! Personally, I like my curves. I also like that my body carried my son to full-term 7+ years ago and that it provided him breastmilk for the first year of his life. No filter or photo-enhancing technique can make me more pleased with myself than that! :)
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction when I first watched the videos of the women on the billboard was a mixture of shock and sadness. It shocking to see how seamlessly consumers are tricked to believe in ideals which are completely unrealistic and how all advertisements use this type of deception in the name of consumerism. It is sad women and men are made to live up to an unrealistic standard, which serves to drive the beauty industry’s bottom line. We are told we must buy this product or that product in order to look like the models in the media. Acknowledging the high rate of trickery being used by media, I have learned not to put much weight into these images. I remember my mother telling me when I was younger that you must love yourself as you are right now! As an adolescent, I didn’t understand what she was talking about as I worried about my thighs touching or weighing more than most in my class (I reached peak height and weight in 5th grade). I did not see myself as the most beautiful and criticized myself because I could never pull off the “waif” look which was popular during my adolescence. I look back at my pictures from my adolescence and wonder, “what was I thinking?” I was (and still am) beautiful. These pictures serve as a reminder to not compare myself with anyone else because in 20 years, I will look back and say, “Damn, I looked good.” So, why waste time hating your body now? Because of sports, I embraced body images that reflected power, strength and health. I can say that I love my body, even though it is worn by the many years of competitive sports. This body has competed on the highest level possible and despite it’s scars and the degradation of joints and the loss of muscle 15 years later, I am proud that my body continues to remind me of my inner determination and strength to endure. My 12 inch scar from two hip surgeries, could be an aspect that I hate about my body, but it only continues to remind me of the power I have to overcome any obstacle. My body, with all of its aches and pains represents fortitude and my undying will and ability to persevere.
A younger demographic may not question unrealistic pictures or videos intended to display any given product, perhaps I myself would have bought into the "ideal body" trap when looking through my mother's Victoria Secret catalogs. Currently, I simply joke about how many hours of Photoshop vs. how many actual hours at the gym it took a certain model to achieve particular results. I no longer buy into pictures of thin models wanting to sell a look or product and equate it with a desired lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteIn actuality, I do not wear much make up myself, when I do it is the cheapest mascara, blush or eyeshadow Walgreens can offer. I do have friends however who spend an unholy amount of money and time into transforming themselves into "real life" Instagram models, with the perfectly contoured high cheekbones and full arched eyebrows. There's a popular meme out there that jokes about taking a woman swimming on the first date just so you know what she truly looks like after the make up has washed off. As women we often apologize if we are caught off guard without make up, as if we had broken a law that mandates women to wear it at all times. We do however have an unspoken rule that does make it seem as if we are less attractive or worthy if we do not have it on. I personally think some make up is overdone, others enhance the already gorgeous natural qualities women have, others are plain cringeworthy. The important take away from this is that we do not stifle creativity (some people have legitimately made career as make up artists thanks to YouTube tutorials) yet remain aware that make up is a temporary cure like anything else (alcohol for instance for solving deeper issues within an individual). As future mental health professionals, we need to tune into the unspoken pain that men and women who use make and virtual enhancements feel and aid in the exploration of the true source of discontentment.
I declare each and every chance I get, that I love my body not because of what it looks like but because it is strong and carries me through life. At times it needs rest and healing, at other times it yearns to dance, whichever day I find myself in, I rejoice in having a healthy admiration for it, because I am content with its form and function. I am well aware of what clothes and make up do, but I feel my best in my own skin with no additives. I work hard to keep it at optimal levels of performance, not mere asthetics. Challenge yourself to look beyond the mirror and look deeper, are you winning or just looking like you are?
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DeleteHi Sayra!
DeleteIt sounds like you are very confident and have a healthy appreciation for what your body does for you instead of what it looks like to other people. I applaud this confidence, and just want to point out that some people who wear make-up have this same confidence. Not everyone who uses make-up (or alcohol for that matter) is using it as a cure or a crutch. Make-up can be fun, playful, express creativity and some girls like to wear a lot and some girls like to wear none. I don't want to judge other girls for how they apply make-up any more than I want to judge girls for their bodies or what clothes they choose to wear. To each his own. The history of make-up dates back 6000 years. Even the Egyptians adorned their face with make-up and wore jewelry. They believed make-up protected them from harsh winds, sun, and even evil spirits (the evil eye face paint). Just wanted to offer a different perspective.
Hi Tesa! Thanks for sharing these dove videos! It's interesting how much work goes into transforming a real woman into an advertisement. I was aware of this trend, so I wasn't surprised at the before/after images. Like some of the comments said, Dove is using this to try to sell something, but I still applaud them for using real women and showing a variety of body types, skin tones, and facial features. I think the more that people are exposed to real women, the more the beauty ideal will become more real and attainable. When Dove first started their "real beauty" campaign, I heard a guy say something along the lines of, "Have you noticed that Dove started using ugly/fat models?" This made me cringe. This guy has been so bombarded with images of manufactured women that he has no idea what real women look like, even though there were real people all around him. Hopefully more companies will follow Dove's lead and stop the Photoshop madness. I have been noticing more companies in the last 10 years using more realistic models, although we still have a long way to go. I appreciate a lot of things about my body and try to look at what it does for me instead of what it looks like. Yoga really helped me with appreciating my body for what it can do for me. I got into yoga to get fit and look better and 10 years later, I am still practicing for the emotional and spiritual benefits and less for the yoga butt haha!
ReplyDeleteIn response to some of the comments, I think it is a woman's choice whether or not she wants to wear make-up. Enjoying dressing up and putting on make-up, expensive or cheap, doesn't make you better or worse than any other women. Some people enjoy make-up and there is nothing wrong with that. We, as women, should not put each other down and judge each other for choosing to wear make-up or not.
My initial reaction to each of those was a little different. For the video of the women being transformed into the more “ideal” figure with all of societies desired physical qualities I have seen many ads such as this. Having seen pictures of some of my classmates from high school who have gone into modeling it is shocking how different their bodies and faces look in the pictures compared to the people I knew personally. Whether it was the color of the skin, hair, or the different effects to amplify other features it was very obvious how much these pictures had been altered. I think the ads such as these when companies push their sales for whatever hair or skin product they have, I do not entirely think it is wrong. I think for pushing to sell make up is not a bad idea when done correctly. Like the end of that ad I do not believe was provocative or put others to shame. It is when these ads become very sexualized or make women feel they need to completely change their body and size in which I believe it is harmful; especially due to the fact that more of these ads are directed towards younger population.
ReplyDeleteAs for the male video, I can agree with Sean by stating if I walk in a store to buy shoes or clothes and see an ad of someone trying to push a product, I do not feel victimized or that I must live up to the standards of these graphics. So I can say that to me personally, these ads never speak to me, because at the end of the day all I care about is the shirt or shoes I’m trying to buy. And to answer the last question, I will tie it into my initial thoughts on the male video. I need my body to be there for me for work, around the house, and any other type of leisure activities or sport I want to do. Those are the bear necessities I need my body for. As for when I competed in athletics I would not work for the body that looked the best in pictures. All of my workouts were geared towards my performance in whatever sport I was competing in at the time. Nothing more, nothing less.
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ReplyDeleteI am so glad you touched on this topic. I am always in discussion about this. I definitely agree with the fact that these ads influence the way that consumers view themselves. It's amazing what technology can do. They can create a whole different person with one application. I could imagine how the person in the picture would feel knowing that's really not how they look. The advertisers had to Photoshop their image so much. The consumer will begin to compare themselves to the model. This could lead to them criticizing themselves constantly trying to measure up to a false image. A lot of women are looking so made up with make up and plastic surgery. They are willing to try anything to "fix" something they don't like about themselves. The advertisers use this to their advantage. I don't agree with them playing on the consumer's insecurities. Especially, when the desired results are unattainable or risky to achieve. I can understand making changes naturally or doing something for your well-being. However, I don't believe altering yourself should be done for the sake of fitting in or hiding you insecurities. I wish there was more campaigns about accepting who you are. I feel that is very important. I am not usually moved by advertisements because I am very accepting of myself. I am too busy to be consistent with keeping up. Whether it be keeping up with what's popular or actually buying into what the advertisement is promising and keeping up routine usage. Meeting beauty standards isn't on my To-do list.
ReplyDeleteAdvertising, particularly for fashion and cosmetics, has a powerful effect on how we see ourselves and how we think we should look. Women’s magazines in particular have a tremendous influence on body image, with researchers reporting that teenage girls rely heavily on them for information on beauty and fashion, valuing their advice nearly as highly as that of their peers.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the content, images of women’s – and, increasingly, men’s – bodies in magazines also send messages. There has been a progression towards thinner and thinner models in ads and magazines: twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 per cent less than the average woman – but today’s models weigh 23 per cent less.
Swimsuit models-Even these dangerously underweight models are often not seen as being thin enough by editors, who employ Photoshop and other image manipulation tools to create women who are literally “too thin to be true” – as well as to alter photos of celebrities so they meet this standard. Men in magazines are also frequently “photoshopped” to achieve the lean and muscular ideal.
Advertisers believe that thin models sell products. For almost a century, advertisers have appealed to – or contributed to – women’s insecurities in hopes of selling them the solution. In fact, advertising is so strongly associated with creating insecurities that when women are shown images of products such as shoes, perfume or deodorant in the context of fictional ads, they are more likely to answer negatively to questions such as “How attractive do you find yourself?” or “How satisfied are you with your body?” than if they saw the same photos in a neutral context.
I appreciate that Dove (one of my favorite product) took the time to so us what photoshop does for advertisements and selling products, however there are serious long term effects on our youth that show the slender female or muscular male models. Many effects can lead to eating disorder and lack of self esteem of their own body image.
On side note, Dove did a great campaign on "Love your curls", which showed mom and daughters with curly hair. Many women who would "straighten" their hair did not know the effect they had on their daughters (daughters wanting straight hair to feel acceptance vs. embraces their beautiful curls.)
I think the points you raised about advertising campaigns are all very good and valid observations about the way big businesses manipulate the human body to appear as though their product is the one thing that is needed to change your life. I think that is what ultimately the companies that are using these images are trying to convey. If you use their product, be it make up, soap, deodorant or wear their underwear, you will become skinnier, stronger, sexier and more appealing to society. That approach is both manipulative and wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think the suggestion you made about simply working to limit the exposure to these images is a great one. I think it can be hard for people to see them and not compare themselves to it. Even if they are conscious of the fact that the images are altered and not reality for anyone, people can still question..."is that what I'm supposed to look like? Is that what others want me to look like?" These questions can be extremely damaging for even the most mentally tough, strong individuals. Constantly thinking you are not what society desires is especially hard on young girls who are just working to figure out who they are.
Honestly advertisement uses the knowledge we acquired by exploring the human mind in order to help them and used it to fuel the capitalism that is a huge component of today's society. It is intentional manipulation and yet knowing this people still give in, why is that? It is because it is so subcounciosly rooted but I do think we just need to shift the mentality on it. We do not need to necessarily sit and blame media and over think our every action, who we are is created by the society we are born and raised in, rejecting or accepting its ideals and sure if I was born in a different place I may want for different things but I buy what I buy because of interest and to help create the self I want the world to see and I think if we allowed ourselves to own that a little more, we would have more power over how we are influenced.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the standards presented are ridiculous and harmful to young men and women to present a near unachievable standard. I will say we are getting there though,more and more models outside the norm are becoming very public and there has been an intentional move from many famous individuals and media sources to do the natural look, no airbrush or make-up. I think the move to remind the world that those individuals that are used as a selling tool are real people too will be good in helping disillusion the masses and look past the silly standards to just see the product and not the subliminal messages.