Matt Barnum, of the University of Chicago’s Chicago Maroon, chose to use some interesting words when he described Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign in this morning’s edition. At first, when he was describing his trophies and awards, it seemed that he was off to a great start. However, then he began talking about Dove’s campaign to improve women’s self-esteem. If you recall, I wrote a tidbit about a month ago about this very campaign, and Emily weighed in as well. While we each have our own criticisms of the campaign, I think it’s safe to say that Emily and I are still very much in favor of attempting to improve women’s self-esteem.
The part about Dove’s campaign that drew the most heat from Mr. Barnum was the idea of being pro-age, which he dismissed as “insanity”. I think it is very narrow-minded and ageist to ask “Who in their right mind is “pro-age”?” Hmm, I think my grandmother is…
Anyway, I’d like to see how others have reacted to this editorial. For the full text, click here.
And to answer his question – would I rather be self-aware and unhappy or deluded but content? I would actually rather be self-aware and content…
Here is the commercial for “pro-age” Dove products.
2 responses so far ↓
Megan // May 19, 2008 at 11:22 am |
First, if he is going to be backing his opinions up with “academic studies” then he needs to provide citations and show diverse findings, no the findings that support his opinion. I am concerned for Matt as a person, he says “Self-esteem doesn’t make us better people; it just makes us more intolerable.” This is a very harsh and inaccurate knowledge and understanding of self-esteem, especially for a 2nd year psy. major.
Actually, self-esteem Matt, helps us accept ourselves and subsequently others with kindness and gentleness. If we are selves feel adqeuate in a society where we are constantly we are not good enough, self-esteem warrants positive effects.
As for his take on aging, I’m not even going to get into that. Human beings are not disposable emotionally and physically because of age. Matt needs some more life experience before he starts sharing his very status quo uncompassionate beliefs.
heidiloebach // May 19, 2008 at 1:57 pm |
I think part of what Matt was touching on was the whole idea of ad nauseam validation. A lot of parents and teachers seem to be on this kick of trying to improve kids’ self-esteem by rewarding them and praising them to the extreme. I think that there comes a point where this inflated sense of self-importance (note: not self-esteem) can be problematic. Unearned rewards can present children with a skewed view of reality.