Friday, February 6, 2015

Journal #4: Examining Beauty Through Media



Can advertising campaigns, like the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign featured above, alter the image of physical beauty in America? Do you think the Dove ad debunks the stereotypes of what physical beauty should look like for Americans? Is the definition of beauty changing in America? Please explain.

21 comments:

  1. I believe that the standard for beauty will not be changed by any campaigns or propaganda. The standards we have in today's society have been established for years, and people are naturally attracted to certain features: like women being tall and having flat stomachs and large breasts, and men being tall, having big muscles and six-pack abs. I believe that these features will always be attractive and serve as the ideal image of beauty in America, but the portrayal of beauty on TV and in magazines could change. As far as these ads are concerned, i don't believe that any girl will see the two pictures side by side and judge the women in the dove ad more conventionally beautiful than the women in the victoria's secret ad.

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  2. The standard image of physical beauty will always be the same. People will always be attracted to certain features, such as an athletic build or a skinny body. Although the Dove ad campaign debunks the typical steeotype of the standard image of beauty, it will take a while for the stereotype to change. Compaines hire models for their advertisements for a reason; to increase their revenues. Consumers will be more inclined to buy clothing after seeing an attractive person on an advertisment wear it.

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  3. I do not think Dove's love your body campaign will be able to change the image of what victoria secret and almost every other advertisement company portrays. Even though it is very difficult to obtain the bodes of the tall skinny victoria secret models most of it is genetics and will not be able to look that way. The ladies in the dove ad is a more accurate portrayal of what a female should look like. The dove ad shows the flaws that are shown through victoria secrets but it will not make women feel okay with their bodies all of a sudden, just because they see one picture. I don't think the image of america is changing because almost all advertise ments show the tall skinny models for years and years and will not change any time soon

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  4. I do not believe an advertising campaign such as the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign, can alter the image of what is considered beauty in America. Sure, it might boost the self -confidence of a couple women and allow them to believe that they are good enough and still beautiful in their own ways. I believe that over time what is considered beauty changes. However, there will always be standards set. For example, there have been phases of what a woman’s ideal body is such as curvy, or thin, or fit. Two pictures show a different body type from one another but within each picture the body types stay the same. I think that a better ad would be to show woman of all shapes and sizes together.

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  5. I personally do not believe that the Dove Real Beauty campaign and other similar beauty campaigns can alter the image of what people consider to be beautiful in America. I believe that the image of what a person believes to be beautiful and attractive is based on personal preference and is not something that is taught through propaganda and advertisements. What a person considers to be attractive is their own decision and advertisements do not influence that. A person does not need to see an advertisement such as the Victoria's Secret example advertisement to know that the models in the picture are beautiful. I do not believe the image of what is beautiful in America is changing. Companies will continue to include the skinniest models in their advertisements. There is a reason why one of the biggest television events of the year is the Victoria's Secret fashion show, the image that is shown is the image that people want to see.

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  6. I do not believe the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign can alter the image or physical beauty in America. Everyone has their own standards of what beauty looks like in their mind, and most people are attracted to the features of being skinny and having a fit body. Although the Dove ad does debunk the stereotypes of what most people think beauty looks like in Americans, it does not mean that the image for beauty is changing. I do not think the definition of beauty is changing in America at the moment; it will take time for the stereotypes of what women should look like to change.

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  7. I don't think that Dove's advertising campaign of real beauty would be able to alter the way people view physical beauty. When someone looks at both the Victoria Secret ad and the Dove advertisement they don’t immediately rule out the physical attributes of the women in the one ad over the other. I think that Dove debunks the stereotypes of what physical beauty should look like because they show that people are going to be happy with however they look. It shows that women can still be attractive set aside the stereotype’s our society has created about beauty. I don’t think what America views beauty as is changing because advertisements and companies will still show the same stereotypical attractive characteristics of women.

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  8. I do not think the ad changes American views on what real physical beauty is supposed to look like. We have always had the same standards for woman to be beautiful and I do not think that is ever going to change. The typical “beautiful woman” is tall, skinny, big breasted, with nice teeth and tan skin. I do not think that dove is trying to make a statement that this is what America believes is beautiful but instead they are just appealing to a specific audience. They are trying to say that you do not need to be this perfect super model to use our soap, you can have any body type or physical appearance and still enjoy their product. I do not see America’s view of attractive women changing any time soon because that is how it has always been and it is just a natural thing that you are attracted to those features.

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  9. I think that many people can be affected by marketing or propaganda to change the public image of things. These images are what most teenagers are looking at everyday if it is over TV or in a popular magazine. The people who are paid to make these advertisements make millions of dollars so the propaganda is definitely going to effect a certain group of people we just dont know who they are targeting. I think that the image of beauty is changing because the outlook in beauty changes about 10 years, if you go back in history you can see that. I think that everyone is getting away from the really thin girls that are supermodel like that dont eat because we know what they do behind the scenes. I watched a video on facebook the other day that showed this thing exactly for like the 1500s and the perfect women changes with the times just like how clothes go in and out of style so quickly. Everything in life changes and these advertisements are just pushing the change.

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  10. I definitely think the definition of beauty is changing in America. For many years, the image of perfect was tall and skinny like the models that graced the runway. That idea of women is still considered "beautiful" and "perfect" but now-a-days, more women are perceiving the bodies of athletic, sculpted, and muscular bodies as beautiful. But beauty also isn't the shape of your body or the appearance of your face, but the imperfections and uniqueness that each woman has. Women in society can be tall and skinny like the ones in Victoria's Secret, but there are also women that are curvy such as the ones in the Dove Campaign. Being skinny isn't a bad thing and being curvy isn't a bad thing, as long as you're happy and healthy with your definition of beauty.

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  11. I think that the Dove ad does in fact debunk the stereo types set for American beauty. You don't see very many ads today that don't feature super models like in Victoria secret. However, I don't think this will change the way we see beauty in America. It is already ingrained in our heads through so many different venues I don't think an ad campaign will be enough to do it.

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  12. Yes I do think the Dove ad debunks the stereotypes for American beauty. You see these women in the ad that look, happy, healthy, and still just as beautiful as the Victoria Secret ad. So many American women (as well as around the world) have been struggling with body image. In recent years however, I have seen that magazines and advertisements have been trying to relay the idea that every woman is beautiful inside and out. I think the ad helps push women to see that physical beauty is not the only factor of a person and that even though the women on the Dove ad don't look like "supermodels" they still look beautiful and that's how women should strive to see themselves as well. I think the definition of beauty is changing in America as well see that the size you are when you are healthy is the only size that matters. Women of all different shapes and sizes are seen on television, in movies, and as models. There is not only the cookie cutter shape of woman that we used to see in media years ago.

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  13. Neither ad should be able to accurately portray the definition of American beauty. As a whole, there should not be a consensus on what is pretty and what it is not. Ultimately the definition of beauty should be left to the single person. In the Victoria Secret ad, the models are very thin. Some may say they're unhealthy, but what do we know? Maybe they work out and eat right. The women in the dove ad are larger, but that does not make them healthy or unhealthy. While they do debunk the "skinny" stereotype, at the end of the day, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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  14. I don't necessarily think that the Dove "real beauty" campaign changes people's perspectives on beauty, or the way in which beauty is perceived. I think that certain individuals could take pleasure in this advertisement, and feel better about themselves, but something about our society today, has created this atmosphere where being skinny and tall is always something to strive for. I feel like the definition of beauty is starting to change today, but it's mostly still the 'wanting to be skinny, etc.' Many women today strive to be muscular and toned though as well. I feel as though it'll take time for us to move past what we think beauty is as of right now.

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  15. Advertisements like the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign cannot alter the image of physical beauty in America until they’re accepting of all body types. Shaming certain body types doesn’t help anyone. The Dove advertisement debunks the stereotype of what American beauty should be by showing women that aren’t stick thin because, at least according to other advertisements, thinness equals beauty. The definition of beauty in America isn’t changing though. Yes we are slowly becoming more accepting and aware of different body types, but until the day comes where eating disorders no longer exist and people aren’t worried about how they look in a bathing suit, the definition of beauty remains the same.

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  16. Dove's advertisement campaign is not truly changing the way beauty is perceived, but I do believe that it is possible for a massive change in advertisement methods could undo the image of beauty that has been created by overly sexual advertisements from the past decades. Dove's campaign is really just a marketing scheme to sell their product. As for the change of beauty in America, the definition of beauty is always changing. Beauty is a societal characteristic, and it changes with society. The idea of beauty depicted in Renaissance art differs greatly from the beauty depicted in advertisements and magazine covers of the 21st century.

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  17. No dove's advisement does not do anything. The reason for this is that beauty will always have certain features in it. For example, big boobs blonde hair, skinny, a hour glass shaped body are currently what is considered to be attractive. However, these ads do exert a certain pressure on younger girls especially around the middle school. For example the Victoria's Secret ad says love your body. This implies that you should look like the molds in order to love your body, and for a lot of girls this is a standard that is basically unobtainable. However, these people will not switch the ad because it is the standard of beauty.

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  18. I believe that advertising campaigns and propaganda can extremely alter Americans’ points of view. A few decades ago, there were posters advertising ways to gain weight to have a fuller figure in a bikini. The models were not stick-thin as they are portrayed today. However, because all we see in magazines and pictures now are 95 pound, six feet tall, practically plastic women, that is what we think is beautiful. This ad rather accurately portrays real women in America. They are of different races and body types and all seem very happy and confident in their own skin. This is the way the definition of beauty has changed in the past and I think if more companies like Dove joined in, the campaign would be successful.

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  19. The Dove advertisement does debunk the idea of needing to be paper thin to be beautiful. I don't think that the ad campaign will change the idea of beauty in America though. While it is a nice sentiment the majority of people will still be attracted to thinks such as a hourglass figure, skinny body, etc. The current idea of beauty has been around too long to change any time soon. Maybe if more ads were like Dove then it would change but that is a big if.

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  20. All advertising has the potential to change culture depending on how effective it is. Studies have shown that men rate women as “below average” in attractiveness far more than women do to men. Companies such as Victoria Secret probably have a lot to do with that. They set such high and unrealistic standards for women, and men are buying into it believing that that’s what a woman should look like. The Dove Real Beauty Campaign should be able to debunk this unrealistic standard, it has for me at least. Although I never really thought that most women should look like Victoria Secret models. This campaign should be able to show men what most women actually look like, and I hate to say it this way, but it will lower the standards for women beauty. Perhaps this will change the definition of beauty to something more realistic. This is clearly the goal of the ad, but only time can tell if it will actually be effective.

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  21. I believe that the dove real beauty campaign will defiantly effect the perceptions of beauty on our american society. The media that we see everyday chooses the most beautiful skinny people out there to tell the news to give them more of a draw from the viewers. But the people that tell the news that have this cookie cutter appearance are now normal. But since they are the only people shown on the news people begin to perceive that as normal which only ostracizes the normal looking woman and make them believe their looks are far less than beautiful. By doves campaign, they are showing different body types making them more normal in our everyday lives. Though the dove campaign can only have so much of an effect of the population, it does the least to give people some food for thought and start to open their minds to perceiving a different body type as beautiful.

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