Dove & Empowerment

At first, I was excited about Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. It seemed to be a small step in the right direction of correcting our society’s narrow ideas about what is beautiful. It was a way to build self-esteem and provide an avenue for empowerment. Yet, the more I learn about their campaign, it reminds me so much of “green-washing” which is happening with home products. Basically, Dove is “beauty-washing“, centering a product around a broader ideal of beauty, yet still selling a product. A company will cling on to any cause, even a positive one to sell products, much like the green-washing that is going on right now.

I emailed Dove a few months back to ask if their idea of real beauty included the harming of innocent animals to test their products on. Of course, I got a standardized jargon reply which did not address the concerns. The cost of beauty is too high, even for a company that proclaims “real” beauty while testing on animals and manufacturing the product line AXE. If you have seen the ads for this male brand of personal products, sexism and objectification run high. How does a company like Dove reconcile their “real beauty” campaign with objectification in another?

Empower-marketing does not work with me, either does green-washing. Plenty of women, like myself see through these tactics and are not fooled nor pleased. What about beauty without consumerism? Read labels, research companies, and know tactics.This is one consumer who is not buying into even a positive ideal of beauty backed by materialism.

Dove’s Empowerment Stage Performances

Photo By : Orange County Girl