Why have we got this message so screwed up?
This picture you can see to the left has been making it rounds on facebook with people leaving all sorts of comments but mainly saying that we need to be teaching our young girls about “real bodies”, and generally in support of the Dove campaign as being a “real” example of the female form and the Victoria secret one as “not real” . I have a real issue with this and I know this post will not make me any friends in fact perhaps a few enemies but I need to speak my truth.
The picture annoys me for a few reasons.
- It is all about marketing dudes and dudettes, by passing the picture around we are in essence promoting Dove and giving Victoria’s Secret a bad name. Personally for me there is nothing as inspiring as a Victoria Secrets cat walk show. They are an amazing celebration of females – Yes their models are trim but not as thin as other models , they have real fun attitude . Who wouldn’t want to promote that to our young girls.
- OK here is my total irritation with the dove campaign. By showing larger women isn’t the Dove campaign as discriminatory as the Victoria Secrets campaign is claimed to be? Yes, I know the Victoria Secrets campaign only has “thin” girls in, but look at the Dove one they all have to be over a size 12 UK right? What about the girls and females who really do look like the Victoria Secrets Models are they not real? My daughter is blessed with her own amazing body which happens to look more like the Victoria Secrets model then the Dove Campaign does that make her not real – should she feel bad and less than because she doesn’t have a hourglass figure? Her comment when I showed her thie campaign was “ well that’s not real is it because we don’t all have curves” My point exactly. And she did voice her opinion to Dove on twitter who have to date failed to respond.
Real bodies come in ALL shapes and sizes and All should be celebrated. We can not say one is real and one is not . I think all of these women in the picture have amazing bodies and all should be celebrated. Has the Victoria Secret one been altered I don’t know nether do I really know that about the Dove Campaign. Our young girls aren’t stupid they know pictures are altered they know bodies are different and personally I think things like this are insulting rather than inspiring. Who are we to say what is real and what is not…….there is only what is real for you.
What do you think?
