On the other end of that spectrum is societal pressure for young girls to be thin and to dress and act too sexy at way too young an age. My girls are not quite 2 years old, so hopefully I have some time before these become issues we have to face.
Regardless, this new ad from Dove really hit home.
As someone who works in the ad industry it would be very easy to take a cynical look at this ad... but as a father I applaud Dove for what they are trying to do. Especially if it helps start a dialog about unhealthy stereotypes.
The Real Beauty Campaign in general has taken a pretty honest approach at dealing with womens bodies. And it has done it in a non-glorified, non-self congratulatory way that I admire. It's like the United Colors of Benetton ads for female body image. I don't know if these ads are breaking through into the collective conscious, but it is a good start.
I am glad to see they are extending this campaign to reach out to parents . I really like the tag line: "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does." I encourage all you parents to take a few seconds to head over to The Campaign For Real Beauty site and check out some of the materials they have there for talking to your daughters about body image.
And Dad's don't shy away from this subject. This is not "woman's work". Your daughters look up to you and value your opinions. You can add a very valuable perspective to this dialog. Man up and do it.
Tony
10/2: 231.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
11.4 lbs. to go
p.s. I am fully aware that I am getting sucked into perpetuating a viral marketing campaign...just like Dove wants. But again, if it starts a positive dialog, I could care less about being someones shill.
6 comments:
Victim #2, great ad. Like you, I don't care to be a willing victim of this one. Though I could very easily play devils advocate on this issue too, but that is from the part of my brain that strongly considered changing to an Anthropology major. I wish humans were more willing to talk about the effects of evolutionary mating pressures on everyday decision making. As if we were soo past that.
Secondly I would mention: dang that song is viral too! So I checked. The band is called Simian. Now defunct. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simian_(band)
~Nato
Clarification, second sentence should read: "..I don't care _that I am_ a willing victim".
I meant to imply support of the ad, not imply that I did't want to be one.
Thank goodness for the clarification, Nato! I was shocked and dismayed by the thought that you had a negative reaction to the ad...that's not the Nato I know!
Tony...I especially love that you encourage men to talk to their daughters. I don't know that the majority of men know just how important that is.
I love this ad, and I love the campaign. It's amazing to me how easy it is to be fooled into believing that the beauty industry is right. I don't even buy women's magazine any more. Reading them always leaves me feeling inadequate...even though I am an intelligent woman fully conscious of the negative forces at work between the covers. I'd rather read GQ.
Did you know that girls as young as 10 and 11 are abusing ADHD prescription drugs in order to avoid eating so that they can be skinny? It's a sick, sick world.
Regarding the assertion I made in my last post about the abuse of ADHD meds...I heard on MPR this morning, so it must be true...
Oh man...we have weirdly similar thought processes.
Check out my blog and you will know why!!
He is doing well...the doctor's appt tomorrow morning should lend some more answers. Thanks for asking!
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