qLife : Health : What Is Real Beauty?

flowrktty: April 21, 2008 - 10:17 PM PST

i try not to do this but thats why i was asking why is it okay to hate skinny people? but i mostly got people messaging me and arguing that i am imagining it all. dove just made it so much worse

sparksfly: April 21, 2008 - 06:09 PM PST I completely agree about the dove ads, it's actually kind of ironic that they are giving audiences an idea of "real beauty" because in the end, they're just selling us this idea of "real beauty" like any other fashion brand or magazine that sells us other notions of beauty. Being a really skinny girl, I find it annoying how everyone is almost against skinny girls or something because they are so afraid of promoting anorexia, etc. I mean, I am perfectly healthy, I just have a fast metabolism and growing up, I wanted so bad just to be average weight so people wouldn't think I didn't eat or something. I used to be afraid to order just salads because people would wonder. That's ridiculous! It's a good thing I don't care anymore haha

grasshopper: April 19, 2008 - 01:27 PM PST

You know it's funny - but I've been thinking about this comment for the past several days and I've come to the conclusion that what dove has inadvertently achieved or committed some kind of reverse anti-thetical discrimination with this commercial. Sort of the same argument that goes along with affirmative action. I've experienced this where I've felt stunted. I was in a Yoga class and I really enjoy Yoga. The instructor made the comment really in such a bitter sort of way that she didn't care how far anyone could stretch. Well, I was born flexible and I really work at it. like I said I LOVE Yoga. Well all of a sudden I felt as if I shouldn;t go all out because taht would not be acceptable. So i said all that to say...

I totally see your point.

grasshopper: April 14, 2008 - 05:59 AM PST Beauty is also collective. There is something beautiful in the fact that we are so diverse. Fat, skinny, old, young... Beauty can be found in merely being human.

MEOutLoud: April 13, 2008 - 03:26 PM PST


I truly believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it's an old saying, but I think it holds true. Some people love to see someone who's a size zero, others a size 20 or whatever, we're all different and we all have different tastes so as much as commercialism can say only blah blah is beautiful it's still up to the individual looking at it.

greeneyeliner: April 13, 2008 - 12:52 PM PST I do see your point, however I think the main reason they do that is because those size 0 Vitoria Secret Models are already represented in most other ads not to mention magazines, movies, tv shows, you name it. Seems like they're just trying to show something different.

flowrktty: April 12, 2008 - 08:50 AM PST i think i am the only one who really does not like the dove campaign. i get really annoyed every time i see their commercials.

the message of real beauty sounds good but they present it in a distorted way. they say they are showing a diverse group of women but they seem it is mostly average and above average size women in their ads. they exclude anyone who fits the "commercial idea of beauty" so what message does that send to the girl who is a size 0 and looks like a victoria secret model? she cant be beautiful because she isnt a larger average size like the women in the campaign for real beauty?

in this ad they make it seem like commercial beauty cant exist naturally. its like models are unicorns that arent real. we just photoshop them to make them look beautiful.

the dove campaign is doing the same thing as the fashion industry. they are imposing their idea of beauty on others and hoping that we al buy it.

i think beauty is only valid when it is self perceived. people should learn to be comfortable with their own bodies. if you are not happy how you look, then change your body to where you feel comfortable and beautiful. whether it means losing weight, gaining weight, getting tone or adding some curves if you feel beautiful then go for it.

act1scene2: April 12, 2008 - 06:33 AM PST Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. it usually contains symmetery

jacintos: April 11, 2008 - 05:22 AM PST Beauty is really subjective imo. Yeah everybody knows what the stereotypes of beauty are, but that doesn't mean that's all they fall for.

For example, I love nice abs on a guy as much as the next girl, but I've found guys of all shapes and sizes attractive. And I've found that if I really dig the guy's personality, he becomes a LOT more attractive.

bridgewoman: April 10, 2008 - 12:56 PM PST my school recently had a "body IQ" week and one of the lecturers brought in expressed the following idea--i am not sure how accurate it is but it sure makes me think--she said (and i'm paraphrasing here)

thin women became models because the clothing designers were tired of the models being looked at instead of the clothes they were wearing. So, instead of using the-what would now be considered-plump or average models, the voluptuous beauties if you will, they brought in women from the tb wing of the hospital. emaciated, sickly women...the clothes were better received and it became a trend that has stuck with us unfortunately.

grasshopper: April 10, 2008 - 12:36 PM PST

So true and begs the question, so why are people buying it? Why are people buying into such a false image of beauty and becoming consumed by something that fades and is not lasting?

trenchael: April 10, 2008 - 12:29 PM PST this is "chicken and egg" stuff i think. the commercial idea is only sold because people buy it, people don't buy it because it's sold. so extrapolating that theory, people feeding the magazines influence what the magazines promote and then people want to blame magazines for promoting certain things when they wouldn't be promoting it if people weren't buying it.

grasshopper: April 10, 2008 - 12:19 PM PST


Your church rocks! i'm loving this website.

lilsey: April 10, 2008 - 11:26 AM PST I love Dove's campaign for real beauty.

As someone who will never fit in with society's idea of thin or necessarily beautiful because I'm not thin, I tend to feel it even more. My church actually talked about this on Sunday. RockHarbor on the top right hand corner there is a media player that says True Beauty - Mike Erre. It's such a great message.

grasshopper: April 10, 2008 - 10:28 AM PST Beauty is so subjective it has to come from within. Who gets to decide what beauty is anyway? Culture plays such a part in defining beauty. In Africa women stretch their necks and earlobes because it's considered beautiful. I think beauty is definitely more a certain quality than a list of physical characteristics.

princess_star: April 08, 2008 - 09:38 AM PST i think the real beauty if from the inside....yeah its a cliche but you must know a person to see how beautiful they are...

grasshopper: April 08, 2008 - 08:30 AM PST I'm actually reading this book, Going Gray, (it's actually quite boring, I wouldn't recommend it) One thing I did like was that it made me realize how much emphasis we as a culture put on looks. By emphasis, I mean time, money and emotional drain. Not to mention, that people have actually lost their lives due to cosmetic surgery, take Kanye West's mother for example who died just shy of 60.

jha: April 08, 2008 - 08:14 AM PST GH, that was scary. But I believe that there are many among us who can look beyond the "materialistic beauty" to get to the true beauty of a person, that which make up, clever photoshop skills, and objects cannot alter or replace.

ckwright: April 08, 2008 - 08:08 AM PST I found this interesting. I'm not sure if it's better, but at least it does break some of the stereotypes.

anunlikelybelle: April 08, 2008 - 07:50 AM PST I have a Vlog all about how i feel check it out
a little rant

grasshopper: April 08, 2008 - 07:45 AM PST

Are we too easily bought and sold on the commercial idea of beauty? How vain have we become? How materialistic? How sad. So what really matters?