#RealBeauty
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One of my favourite adverts has to be the Dove Real Beauty
campaigns, it just gets me all teary-eyed with goosebumps. I mean, on one hand
it’s really sad that society has somehow rubbed off on us. We women are just
the worst critics of beauty – we can’t even see the beauty in ourselves yet we
are so quick to point out the beauty in others. It’s sad because everyone is
beautiful and everyone should be able to see the beauty in themselves, a
quality that we all possess. We shouldn’t wait to be complimented to acknowledge
this beauty. Then again, half the time we do get compliments, we easily brush
it off. It got me questioning why is this so and why do the negative comments
create a bigger impact on our self-esteem? Dove has a vision that is "committed to building positive self-esteem and inspiring all women and girls to reach their full potential". The Dove campaigns are such a raw
reflection on ourselves and its quite evident that we put a great deal of
pressure on ourselves. We all possess beauty, it exists in each and every one of
us… it’s just unfortunate that we find it so difficult to see it in ourselves.
The reason why I wanted to write an article on this topic
was to talk briefly about the effects, perhaps the media has on our perception
of beauty, as well as our own perception and the unnecessary amount of pressure
that we put on ourselves to reach this unrealistic expectation of beauty.
Studies show that the greatest source of beauty pressure comes from ourselves.
We find this source of ‘inspiration’ from magazines and advertisements
inundated with beauty enhancing products. Half of the time, those very pictures
are edited and enhanced. It’s unfortunate that we put this pressure on ourselves
to reach these high levels of what beauty is perceived to be. We were not made
to be perfect. It simply does not exist.
I did a little research. I spoke to a couple of my friends
about what they find to be beautiful about themselves and what they dislike
about themselves. Like the Dove advert illustrated, we women are very hesitant to
compliment ourself or unable to list a couple of our best qualities. Yet we are
quick to point out our faults and say what needs to be changed. Do we fear that we may come across as vain? It
saddens me because we should be bold, we should confidently accept ourselves.
Why do we, women have all these body insecurities. It’s always the issue when we
are trying on new clothes, or dipping into the swimming pool. We’re always
quick to cover up or quick to say “don’t look at me”. Why are we undermining
ourselves? Like I said, we are the worst critics of our own beauty.
I spoke to a couple of my guy friends to get their
perception about what makes a girl beautiful. Majority of them go along with the idea that "looks attracts but
personality keeps" – in other words, one’s personality has the ability to
overcome one’s looks. Yes, first impressions are really important. The way you
carry yourself or present yourself gives another person a little bit of an
insight into who you are or what you’re all about. However, physical
appearances are not the be-all-end-all. I think we should really just work on
ourselves and our character more than how we physically look. We should stop
trying to constantly enhance ourselves.
One of my biggest dislikes, is when
people feel the need to surgically enhance themselves. Hollywood known to be the home of plastic surgery – its filled
with people who are not satisfied with themselves, nor does it seem they’ll
ever be. One would only need to take a look at Joan Rivers – an example of someone who
could simply just not get enough of altering herself. These Dove adverts really opened
up my eyes and made me ask a whole lot of questions of what beauty really
entails.
I have a friend who time after time undermines how beautiful she really is. This saddens me. I so badly just want to give her my eyes so that she can see for herself this incredible quality that she possesses. That no matter what she's wearing, no matter whether she has make-up on or not, she will continuously remain beautiful for the mere fact that she is who she is. I know you will read this post sometime and you will know without me having to tell you. You are beautiful my friend, just accept it.
Nonetheless, I hope that these advertisements have impacted you as much as they have made an impact on me and my perception of beauty.Let's work at finding our inner beauty, something that we ALL possess. Don't let the media fool you, don't let this unrealistic 'idea' get the best of you. Let the beauty shine through all our faults and imperfections. Let's be OK with the way we are and the way we look. I can guarantee you that if YOU see yourself as a BEAUTIFUL being and you're confident about that... people will be convinced to think the same.
Stay beautifully beautiful
XOX
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