Different Media Messages
Every body is beautiful... right?
On this page, we'll explore two popular beauty campaigns found in advertisement media and the messages each portray about body shape and size.
The two photos below have a lot of similarities.
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It depicts several women, modeling with only plain undergarments on. The background is nothing eye-catching, allowing our focus to be on the subjects.
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Yet, when compared, there's a pretty stark difference between the two photographs.
That difference? The message.
Victoria's Secret Message
Advertisement media's current definition of natural beauty is represented by Victoria's Secret Love My Body campaign. The women are all young, tall, slender, have long hair and glowing, perfect skin - all characteristics advertisement and entertainment media deem as beautiful. It's message?
You're beautiful if you look like this.
"Perfect Body" by whose standards?
However, Victoria's Secret isn't the only advertisement media giant out there showing women what they need to look like to be considered beautiful. Read on to learn about another beauty campaign.
Dove's Message
Dove's Real Beauty campaign tells a different story. Dove defines beauty in a different way and challenges the stereotypical image of natural female beauty that most entertainment and advertisement media (like Victoria's Secret) portray.
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Dove's Real Beauty campaign is one of the most famous ways that an advertisement media company has attempted to change the stereotypical definition of natural beauty in advertisement. Dove's models for its Real Beauty campaign included women of color, models short and tall, women larger than size 4, and women with different types and styles of hair. Dove created a much more inclusive message than Victoria's Secret's advertisement.
This picture from Dove's Real Beauty campaign include models with piercings and small tattoos.
Consequences and Problems
Dove's Real Beauty campaign seems like a clear winner. However, there are still problems with it and it shares similarities with Victoria's Secret's message that aren't apparent at first glance.
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Although we'll be examining the consequences of such media messages in the next couple of pages (specifically here), it's important to realize these pictures are not just pictures. They are representations of what women are told is valued by society. And their messages, though slightly different, do have a prominent common feature:
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Beauty is physical.