Weighty Issues

[alexxkay]

Was in Park Street yesterday, and it was postered with a more-interesting-than-usual ad campaign. Apparently, Dove soap has decided to target a currently under-served market niche: women who don't look like super-models. They're calling it Campaign For Real Beauty, and have a website set up, campaignforrealbeauty.com. The women on the posters I saw were still a lot less diverse than the actual beautiful women I see in the real world, but I think it best to not get too nit-picky over this. Rather, I choose to celebrate this as a step in the right direction, toward a saner world.

On a related note, I was talking about weight/image issues with some folks the other day. I mentioned, off-hand, that I didn't think I was acquainted with *any* women who didn't think of themselves as overweight -- even the ones who clearly weren't, by any rational definition. This was challenged, and I admitted I wan't 100% sure. So, if you're a woman reading this, and don't think that you are overweight, I'd appreciate hearing about it in a comment.

Comments

[new-man.livejournal.com]

Oddly, how you think of yourself is a major part of how other people think of you. The ad campaign that started this train of thought ran a billboard all over the country in two versions. It featured the same exact picture of a plus-sized model. One versions read "I think I'm fat. Do you?", the other "I think I'm sexy. Do you?". The answer was, about 70% of the respondents agreed with the sentiment expressed 'by the model'.

How you feel about yourself goes a long way to shaping the opinion of how others feel about you. Sadly, according to a recent study, less than 2% of women think they're beautiful.

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

less than 2% of women think they're beautiful.

I think this should be translated into "less than 2% of women are willing to admit that they think they are beautiful". A distinction which doesn't make it any less sad. There is definitely a bias against beautiful women.