Step Aside Supermodels - A New Sexy is "In"

Since what seems like the dawn of time, women have gone to great lengths in order to alter their appearance with the hopes of looking more attractive. While men are guilty of doing the same, the definition of a beautiful woman has historically been much more narrow. Not anymore! Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign has worked to widen the definition of beauty, giving women the confidence needed to truly be themselves. According to the film, 76% of women feel insecure. When cosmetics advertisements are seen by these women, an estimated 67% feel overweight even though only a small percentage of them actually are. This is because certain industries thrive on making people strive to achieve a level of perfection that is quite literally unattainable. Models are airbrushed. In fact, with a little computer modifications you could give me 6-pack abs and even change my ethnicity if you really wanted to.

In regards to Dove's campaign though, the more perfect the images we are exposed to are, the worse we feel about ourselves. However, Dove's campaign works to display real images of real people. This is a wonderful campaign because it emphasizes features that people are proud of, even if others don't necessarily see them in the same light. I'm a guy, and therefore I don't tend to see my own "features" the same way some women do. With guys it's all a "muscle building/how shallow can I be" competition. I'll admit, I spend way too much time worrying about how I look to the opposite sex as well. I use advertised body washes and certain types of cologne, and have also been guilty of purchasing protein powders in the past. While stimulating the economy by spending money is always positive, how we choose to spend it is not always the most productive.

One criticism that I do have however, is how ironic I find it that both Axe and Dove are owned by the same conglomerate (unilever). Their campaigns seem counterproductive. While one tells women to be comfortable with who they are, the other tells men to attract a "higher" level of women by spraying half a gallon of chemicals on themselves. To some degree however, it all makes sense. Guys probably aren't going to react to a male version of the "Real Beauty" campaign in the same way that women have reacted to it. This is probably mainly due to our egos, as well as maintaining our manly essence (which half the time makes us look like complete asses).

At any rate, I applaud this campaign. People need to be happy with who they are, because life is way too short to spend all of your time fretting about how good or bad you look to everyone else. Let yourself shine on in the way that you see fit, the rest should work itself out.

Check out the U.S. Real Beauty site: http://www.dove.us/#/cfrb/.
But also, check this out:http://www.theaxeeffect.com/#/axe-campaigns/twist

An interesting contradiction, don'tcha think?