A Response to the Women's Body Image Campaigns by "Dove" and "Victoria's Secret"

Dear marketers gearing their campaigns toward women,

Please kindly stop pretending that you're better than your competitors because you put "curvy" women smiling in their under garments on your posters instead of "skinny" women. Looking at these two campaigns, there are several things that I notice.

First of all, I notice that ALL of these women are posing in their bras and panties. I don't care what you want to spin it into, there is literally no difference between opening up the curvy women to body objectification and opening up the skinny women to the same judgment. I totally understand that all of these women willingly posed for these photos, that they signed contracts, and that they were happy to do so. However, I also understand that all of these women are being subjected to a type of judgment that is all too rampant in our society - a judgment of whether or not their body is "good enough" or "right." Along the same lines, I recognize that these women were all chosen for their respective photos because of one thing, and one thing only - they have a body type that the makers of the campaigns have decided is "the right one" for women to try to pursue.

Second of all, I notice that ALL of these women are beautiful. I don't see any one of those women who I would say is unattractive, or whom I - following suit of our society - would judge to be "too fat" or "too skinny," "too tall" or "too short," or "too pale" or "too dark." I think they're all gorgeous. However, that brings me to an interesting point: they were also all chosen for these photos because they're beautiful. They have very pretty faces, and evenly proportioned bodies, and they are all wearing flattering cuts of undergarments and standing in flattering poses. This, to me, seems to be further serving to undermine the point of these campaigns which claim to empower women to love their bodies as are - if you don't have perfectly straight white teeth and sleek hair with a pretty face and well-proportioned body, it's hard to find anything in these women to really relate to (aside from maybe the fact that you own underpants).

Third, I notice that these types of ad campaigns encouraging women to love their bodies seem to be rampant throughout our Western society, but that you rarely ever see campaigns similarly geared toward men.  Why the hell don't we care about what men feel about their bodies?! Men are slammed with just as much influential body image media as women are. Have you ever seen an Abercrombie and Fitch model who wasn't buff and handsome? I sure haven't. What about actors who are out of shape? Not too many - no more than there are female actors out of shape. What about an "ugly" news reporter? Nope. None that I can think of. The question that I pose to our society is: are we actually that naive that we truly think that men don't have insecurities about how they might look in relation to other men and/or the men they see in popular media? Maybe we're just too focused on the idea that men are "tough" or "macho" and that it's too effeminate to care what you look like to call attention to it. That, of course opens up a whole can of worms about the fact that we do still live in a society where it's socially less-accepatble for men and women to portray traits contrary to their traditionally expected gender roles.

But back to the photo, for my fourth point! While the Dove campaign was marketed to tell women it's okay to not be super-model skinny, it is guilty of the same exact thing as the Victoria's Secret campaign. They both are telling women what they should look like. They are both telling women that they need to aspire to fit into a "type" or "model" of what the campaign's makers deem "acceptable" for women's bodies. Furthermore, it is my personal opinion that these campaigns are both in fact damaging women's perceptions of themselves.

Finally, neither of these photos tells me a damn thing about the personalities of even one of their models. I have lots of friends who I'm sure society would probably deem "too skinny," especially by the Dove campaign's standards. I also have lots of friends who society would describe as "bigger" or "overweight" or, more judgmentally "fat." And you know what? Every single one of those people, no matter what shape, size, color or physical aesthetic, is a truly wonderful person whom I am blessed to know and happy to call friend. So, marketers, I ask you: who the hell are you to tell me or any other woman what I should look like? How dare you try to tell me that only some of the wonderful, beautifully women in the world have "the right body type." Call me crazy, but I don't really give a rat's ass what any of these women looks like - I care what they think, what they feel, what their hobbies are, what their opinions are on political and social issues. I care how they want to change the world. I care about where they came from and where they hope to go in life. I care about whether they're generous or stingy, whether they're open minded or (as you seem to be) willingly ignorant. Honestly, what a person looks like is among the last things I'm going to care about, and it should be the last thing that you should care about too.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I propose that we start a revolution. I propose that we stop caring what people think and say about our bodies. As long as you're happy with who you are inside and out, who the hell cares what anybody else says?  I propose that we stop judging other people for their bodies, too. Because, let's be honest - these  types of degrading campaigns wouldn't be able to exist without our permission as a society, stemming largely from the way we judge one another. Nobody has the right to judge us on something as vain as our looks, and we certainly don't have the right to judge others on such a vain concept. Besides, a confident smile is way sexier than a perfect body any day!

Sincerely,
Bee