So last year while completing a course in an MA Psychology program, we came across the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. This is corporate sponsored campaign aimed at bolstering the self esteem of little girls who, as we all know, take such a serious hit to their body image from our media saturated society, a society where our media presents unattainable and airbrushed beauty standards that nobody can attain, and which are arguably behind the growing problem of eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, etc.) in our modern societies. Girls, as you probably know, are targeted from a very early with advertising messages designed to present a body form and ideal that they cannot attain, just so that they’ll feel bad enough about themselves to go and buy a product to make them feel good about themselves.
Harmless capitalist fun?
Not really.
The commodification of the female body leads to all sorts of psychological trouble from simple low self-esteem (which is itself implicated in spousal abuse, depression, and other psychological difficulties), to marital problems as men pine after the unattainable female form and leave their spouses for younger women, to the deadly anorexia nervosa that is affecting and killing a growing number of women and girls (some as young as eight) in our Western society. Dove knows this and, wanting to be good corporate citizen I suppose, wants to help girls have a healthy body image.
Or so they say.
The problem with this is that the company that owns Dove also owns Axe deodorant which uses, like beer commercials, the commodified female body (along with all sorts of genitally based humor) to sell deodorant. If you’re thinking corporate hypocrisy then you’re with us on this one. Why would a company that, on the one hand, spends so much money on helping girls develop healthy body image turn around and on the other hand oggle and goggle the airbrushed, big breasted, beauty standard that does exactly the opposite by undermining female self esteem?
Well the answer is money of course. Keep the market segments separate and sell them what they want, healthy self image in the case of young girls, airbrushed big boobed beauties in the case of young boys. You know it is not right but in this society, he that has the money pays the advertising bills and as long as we continue to support companies that attack our children in this fashion life goes on as usual. Though I suppose there is one thing that is changing and that is that men are also becoming a target. Whereas twenty years ago it was only the men oggling the females, commodifying the bodies, and leading the charge on unhealthy bodily standards, now the shoe is on the other foot. Instead of stepping up to the plate and saying no to all forms of commodification, we’ve leveled the playing field. Now we are going to oggle and goggle the perfect male body, and present the unattainable male form, all in an effort to ensure that male self esteem, relationships difficulties, and eating disorders match the rates for women. Anorexia is on the rise in men, and so are sales of male cosmetics so if we continue with our current practices it will only be a matter of time before the men show up in the eating clinics and social institutions that deal with abuse at about the same rates as the females.
Oh happy day!
g&m
Other Reading
http://boxedambivalence.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/q1-commodification-of-the-female-body/
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6360
http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/film/young_latinas.htm
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