http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omBfg3UwkYM
The time-lapse beauty evolution Dove commercial is a perfect example geared toward Susan Douglas’s book Enlightened Sexism. The commercial really touches on Chapters 4 and 8 in the book, which covers the Lean and Mean and The New Girliness. It discusses the means of girl power and the right to chose but on the other hand it also drives home what we do to look a certain way. Both these chapters give examples of pros and cons to each way of thinking in the new feminine era.
The commercial starts off by taking an ordinary woman who they shine a light on so that you can see all her normal blemishes and her normal features. They then flash the phrase evolution across the bottom of the screen to let us know that we have adapted to a new way. The hair, and make-up people come on and proceed to “fix her image”. They pull back her hair and style it differently while putting on different layers of make-up that blend her skin and make her eyes pop. They even shape her eyebrows a certain way to have the perfect arch. They give the young girl hair extensions and continue to straighten and fix her hair to the perfect way. They spend hours making her look exactly the way they want her to before they shine an even better light to make her glow. It is finally then, that they can take the pictures that they want and have her pose and smile certain ways. Then the pictures are done and brought up on a computer for final touches. They elongate her neck to make her look thinner and taller. They arch her eyebrows different directions, and fix her hair to flow exactly in the perfect spots they want. They fix her ears, and make her eyes abnormally bigger. They then shade her hair the perfect color in spots they want to correct and thin her cheeks in. Only then can they put her face on a billboard so people all across America can see. Then the words flash across the screen “No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted” and then finishes with “Take part in the Dove Real Beauty Workshops for Girls”.
Douglas tells us that girl power has taken over the nation with new styles and images that shape young girls personas. I believe that this commercial is a great example of how our nation is really shaped. The young girls whose face was changed and plastered all over the billboards was probably not worrying about why they changed her but more about the fact that she was chosen to represent the make-up industry. Along with girl power our generation is obsessed with how we look. We are obsessed with what we wear, how we act and how people see us. This girl has gained some power for being the one to represent the industry. She gains the power within the image. People will look at her and want to dress like her and act like her because she seems to have power that young girls strive to want. No matter how much girls make fun of Elle from Legally Blonde for her outrageous attitude and style, girls still look up to her because of the power that she represents. She is able to be beautiful, be successful and have all the guys chasing her. She is the perfect example of what girls strive to be.
Now the real question that we ask is: how far are we willing to go to gain that power and self-esteem? Chapter 8 of Douglas’s book talks about how girls are bargaining their independence for beauty. I know don’t know how much I agree with Douglas and that statement but I do agree that girls are going to extreme lengths to look a certain way and for what reason? At then end of the commercial, after the girl’s image is changed completely, Dove says: No wonder our perception of beauty is so distorted. Douglas talks about how starting at very young ages, girls are implanted with the image of how to look. They are to be lean, tall, and have huge breasts. This is what the people want and this is how girls shape their bodies and minds around. If you don’t have this body type then you have to find a way to get it or not be noticed by anyone. Douglas says that many girls are going on the motto “better to have a little bit of an eating disorder or a really weird relationship to food, and a hatred of your own body, than defy the whole thinness-beauty regime and be thought of as unattractive (bad), unfeminine (really bad), or a feminist (like totally odious)” (219). So whatever happened to accepting who you are and embracing it? Apparently that image went out when plastics came in. When you change your image completely where not even you can recognize yourself then you know you have completely shaped into what society wants. People say they feel better being prettier, but in reality they don’t even look like the same person so are they truly that happy?
In conclusion, Dove wants us to “Take part in the Real Beauty Workshop for girls”, because they believe that what the make-up commercial represents is terrible. I say that they are hypocrites. Watching numerous Dove commercials for real women, we see that all these real women are actors who are beautiful and thin. They want to sell their product so the phrase they picked is real. If it was so real then they would have women of all shapes and sizes using their product, but then would it sell? It probably wouldn’t bring in the same numbers as they are now. I can see why they picked that phrase. Dove is saying they are against all the fake people and they are reaching out to you because you are real. So by using these beautiful women you can be beautiful too, but in a real way. It is a very interesting, vicious circle that works for the company. Douglas’s chapter ends with the phrase “We need this arch, empowered irony as we confront another newly engorged carbuncle of enlightened sexism, celebrity culture” (241). I think this statement sums up the representation of the commercial very well.
Reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omBfg3UwkYM
Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism. Henry Holt and Company, NY. 2010.
I have seen this Dove advertisement before, and I think it's very powerful. It is not until the end of the ad when the viewer realizes that this girl's "face" has been plastered on a giant billboard, in an ad for make-up. I think that's the most shocking part of the whole commercial. You watch this girl get transformed, first with copious amounts of make-up and hair products, and then her face is photoshopped. She looks nothing like herself by the end of the commercial, and then the camera zooms out and the viewer realizes that this fake face has been put on a giant billboard. It's truly disgusting that this occurs, and I think that Dove does a good job of exposing this phenomenon. However, like you mentioned in your post, we know that Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" claims to use "real" women...but they actually have casting calls and use models in their ads. Dove needs to stop doing this, for many reasons. First, they seems very hypocritical, as you also mentioned in your post. Second, I think that Dove now has a great opportunity to impact the beauty industry and help end the photoshopping phenomenon. They need to realize this opportunity, and really take advantage of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and the previous comment by Callie that Dove has had some under lying good intentions but has also is still selling their products and is not doing exactly what they are saying in every aspect of their company, they are at least the first company to make some effort in the direction of removing these perceptions of models as not being air brushed and altered. I don't know if I have seen different ads than you but I have seen Dove ads where the women are of different races, ages, and weights which I think is brave of Dove and these women to be proud enough of themselves to put themselves out into this world of airbrushed anorexic models. I think Dove should be applauded for their effort and other companies should try to follow suit and not allow such severe altering of their models that young girls will aspire to be like.
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