I have a problem with women everywhere

I’m a woman. I am also incredibly stubborn. But this week I was stopped right in my tracks when I read about Dove’s new #ChooseBeautiful campaign. I read a couple of reports about it and realised that women need to stop being so stubborn, need to get off their high horse and appreciate good efforts when they’re shown.

The #ChooseBeautiful campaign is a worldwide phenomenon that placed large signs over doorways. One sign would say “beautiful” the other sign would say “average”. The aim of the campaign was to change how women think about themselves and the first step to doing that, is making them realise how they’re doing it right now.

The below video shows the campaign and shows that so many women label themselves as average. They said that making the decision was confronting but when asked about why they made the decision they couldn’t really explain the logic.

https://youtu.be/7DdM-4siaQw

The real reason that so many women chose “average” is because the beauty industry teaches us to be thinner, brighter, tighter, smoother and more colourful than we are. It teaches us that beauty is unattainable. After 60 long years, many of us will know these feelings exactly.

I think it is a great campaign. I believe that women need to realise that everyone is beautiful. Beautiful has no definition. It is our perception and each and every woman in the world should believe that they are beautiful. We should each be our own idea of beautiful and this campaign is trying to teach women just that.

But the sad thing is that so many women have searched for ulterior motives, for hidden agendas and have brought political correctness into their perception of this campaign.

One writer in a news article wrote, “Well a big hurrumph to that. Why do I need to see myself as Beautiful? If you didn’t ask me, I might not even have ever thought to put myself in that context. Thanks for bringing it up, now here comes the negative self-talk all over again. And you’re only giving me a choice between Beautiful and Average? If I don’t choose either what do I do? Pace outside the building like a vampire on True Blood, waiting to be invited in?”

While feelings are never right or wrong and everyone is completely entitled to their opinion, I can’t help but wonder what makes women have these feelings? Why can’t women go, thank you Dove for trying to make me appreciate myself more. Thank you Dove for trying to change my negative self-perception.

Dove comes under personal care – not cosmetics. Dove products are soap, deodorant, moisturiser, and body lotion, not makeup. They aren’t designed to change what they look like; they’re designed to help us care for ourselves.

Of course there is an advertorial motive in one way or another, as there is with every brand. But instead of giving women makeovers, telling them that to look “sexy” they need to wear one type of product, telling us that if we want to look good we need to lose weight, they are trying to teach us to love ourselves. So why do we bash that promotion but embrace the promotion distorting our perceptions?

I believe that women are too stubborn and are too quick to look for everything wrong with something that is completely right. I don’t know why, but it’s something we need to change.

The #Choosebeautiful campaign was designed to empower women and if we don’t accept the help or embrace that kind of thinking, we’ve only got ourselves to blame for our problems.

Tell us, do you think the campaign is positive? Do you think we need to be more open to appreciating this positive effort rather than crushing it? Share your thoughts in the comments below…