What is beauty? Dove campaign tries to change our view
by Kristy Tiesing, posted May 11, 2009
MU Strategic Communications professor Cynthia Frisby spoke Wednesday, April 29, to a group of students interested in the controversial “real women” Dove advertising campaign and the skewed and biased view that society has on what real beauty is. She focused on the issue of beauty in the media and how the media has constructed the image of being beautiful.
When Dove launched its campaign for real beauty, they were hoping to offer women a broader, healthier, more democratic view of beauty. They hired women whose average size was a 12 and portrayed them as what a real woman looks like. Their intentions were to show that women these sizes were okay; that this was real beauty.
However, Frisby explained that Dove received many complaints about the ads, from men and women alike. She explained that society has mundane stereotypes about beauty that no one sees on the surface level.
“The only time I want to see a thigh that big is in a bucket with bread crumbs on it,” one woman complained to Dove. Another woman commented: “I don’t want to see a picture of a woman who looks even worse than I do.”
Dove had expected to deal with the complaints women had about size-0 women shown in ads. Instead, they faced complaints about the bigger woman they had used. Frisby then went on to say that we are programmed to view beauty in a certain way. The media has affected us in such a way that we have developed biased ideas without even realizing it.
“Ads like Dove's force women to face truths about the self, truths that may make some women uncomfortable,” Frisby said. Frisby went on to explain that these beauty biases are causing plastic surgery numbers to quadruple.
Society has become so consumed with how we look that after research, Frisby discovered that the most common plastic surgery is breast implants, and the most common age for this is 16 years.
Frisby’s research shows that negative images are associated with heavy people. Discrimination against heavy people can be seen everywhere, especially in the work force. She used journalism as an example of this, pointing out that we seldom see heavy men or women reporting. Reporters are also expected to wear their hair and make-up a certain way.
“We believe that obesity can be controlled so people who are obese must not have any self- control,” Frisby said. Obesity is viewed as an indulgence. We live in a world where there is a belief that people deserve whatever happens to them, they deserve to be obese.
These negative feelings towards obesity are most commonly seen in the U.S. We are the only country that idolizes thin women. In under-developed countries, obesity is something to strive for. It is seen as a sign of financial security and beauty. Men desire women with bigger hips because they will be more suitable for childbirth. Also in African American culture, Frisby’s research has shown that older, heavier women are more confident and have higher self-esteem. The culture portrays being heavy as a good thing. In fact African American women showed a positive response to the Dove ad campaigns. They related to the women that looked like them instead of putting them down.
According to Frisby, media has created an idea that beauty isn’t natural. It is something you acquire through expensive surgery or make-up and hair weaves. The media has distorted society’s view of beauty so that when Dove runs ads with real women, they receive negative reactions. Frisby discussed all of these problems and more. Leaving the audience with the question of what is beautiful to them?
