REAL women

[slant]

Dove has launched a lot of beauty campaigns regarding young girls' body image as well as women in general.

They have a series of photos dubbed "Real Women" That I would like to share with you:

I will also point out that despite the appearance that Dove might actually be a company that will advocate real women, during this campaign they were involved in a contraversey regarding the touching up of these images.

Dove is as close as I have seen any company, or any mainstream movement touch the idea that real women do not have fake tits and botox injected into their face. I think it's imporant to realise that the images you see in magazines, on television, in books, are fake , and hollywood celebrities have a lot of money at their expendure to retouch their body to look exactly how they want it to.

The reality is, when women age, they usually gain a little tummy weight. Obesity? No. But women are not always thin, and they do not stay young.

Society wants us to believe that a real woman is thin, white, blond, tanned, big breasted and in a bikini posing in the most seductive of all poses. These are the images that were are selling to our young boys as well. They are taught that this is how women look from magazines like playboy, from porn; all unrealistic depictions of how real women looks.

So we search for the people who look the most like models, and those who weren't born looking like models either come up with a plan to get the surgeries necessarily to look like one, or they live with the ideal implanted inside of themselves that they are somehow not 'beautiful enough'.

I'd like to hear you input; agree, disagree. You all have the right in the constitution.

And if you would, post some images of people who represent real women to you. Thank you very much.

 

[kucala]

I completely agree with what you've said.
And, personally, I tend to prefer girls with "curves" as opposed to skinnier ones. [I am bisexual].

However, i'm also very hypocritical. I preach health and curves and natural beauty and inner beauty, yet I absoloutly despise myself, and struggle with a mild eating disorder.
*shrug*. Perhaps that just proves your point, even more.

 

[DoveAlexa]

Though really, runway models don't even look female anymore. They are meant to be sexless clothes hangers XD. Thin as possible because just like it the store, the dress/shirt/pants always look better on the hanger than the person.

Unrealted fact, though ironic: Unilever, the company who owns Dove, is the same company who owns Pond's and the skin-whitening cream sold in India and far east south-east asian countries. It's great that they have these campaigns and such, but its slightly odd to see the same "over company" selling products for the opposite effect half a world away.

But yeah, I think everyone has body concerns, but I find the best "comfort" is just looking at the people around me and seeing how NOT plastic they are. I feel worlds better then.

Though whats with this whole tanning thing? I've never found the BBQ coloured skin looks that nice on anybody. Makes people look like teriyaki chicken.

 

[the]

I think women should just be comfortable if they are very thin or obese or in between. That goes for men too.

 

[enfp can be shy]

Aesthetics are all learned (fake). People like what they are taught to like. Now the problem is they spend too much energy and frustration on that, instead of more meaningful things.

 

[Wyote]

Aesthetics are all learned (fake). People like what they are taught to like. Now the problem is they spend too much energy and frustration on that, instead of more meaningful things.

Not entirely true. We are naturally attracted to symmetry.

 

[Peppermint]

Unrealted fact, though ironic: Unilever, the company who owns Dove, is the same company who owns Pond's and the skin-whitening cream sold in India and far east south-east asian countries. It's great that they have these campaigns and such, but its slightly odd to see the same "over company" selling products for the opposite effect half a world away.

It's a simple fact, they'll push whatever brings in profit, and if it makes them look good in the eyes of the public in the process, even better.

They are just trying to market their products by appealing to a different populace this time around. 'Real' or 'fake', it doesn't really matter, as long as the money keeps pouring into someone's pockets.

 

[TheLastMohican]

Typically, the designation "real woman" is used in the backlash against thinness. I think that's what Dove was going for, since they clearly were not trying to promote skin blemishes and similar flaws.
It does make a lot more sense to use "real" as a contrast to the artificial beauty that modern technology enables.

 

[enfp can be shy]

Not entirely true. We are naturally attracted to symmetry.

Depends on what is called natural. And I've met exceptions.

 

[TheLastMohican]

Aesthetics are all learned (fake). People like what they are taught to like.

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. That's why I'm putting together a campaign to end brainwashing of infants.

 

[DoveAlexa]

Aesthetics are all learned (fake). People like what they are taught to like. Now the problem is they spend too much energy and frustration on that, instead of more meaningful things.

Not all of it is fake. There are several things encoded within us that we are told to prefer, naturally, but yes we do learn a lot of it and we can have those natural codes overwritten.

Babies are born with an eye for beauty. Infants only hours old will choose to stare at an attractive face rather than an unattractive one - and they also prefer to listen to Vivaldi straight, rather than Vivaldi backwards.
According to Alan Slater, a developmental psychologist at the University of Exeter, humans may have a biologically ingrained preference for beauty.​

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/002338.html

Nice one Mohican, we referenced the same link .
​

 

[enfp can be shy]

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. That's why I'm putting together a campaign to end brainwashing of infants.

I don't see how this contradicts with what I said. There is a lot of brain development before birth.

There are people who like asymmetric and edgy patterns - visual and auditory. It could be perhaps about what they've been exposed to very early, I don't know, but I've met such people.

The conclusion from such studies is rather cultural. And I'm glad that apart from all its mess, our culture still is more related to symmetry than not. That makes me happy.

 

[slant]

Typically, the designation "real woman" is used in the backlash against thinness. I think that's what Dove was going for, since they clearly were not trying to promote skin blemishes and similar flaws.
It does make a lot more sense to use "real" as a contrast to the artificial beauty that modern technology enables.

I want to clarify that this isn't another 'big is beautiful' thread. I'm not encouraging obesity, or curves, or anything like that.

There are plenty of other things that are falsified in advertising. Even thin people are not really as thin as they appear in magazines. Madonna has her photos edited to eliminate her wrinkles- that woman is old, but in her pictures she looks so pristine and young because of the photoshopping.

There is a lot of plastic surgery going on with our youth, a lot of boob jobs.

And for men, to be beautiful is to be completely muscular and toned; plus, you have to be tall. Tall is something that is encouraged for men.

Short is typically encouraged for women and women who are extremely tall get a lot of slack.

I mean, there are plenty of things, it is not just weight.

Like stretch marks. Even fit women have stretch marks. It's just natural. Freckles, scars. Natural.

 

[~jet]

Not entirely true. We are naturally attracted to symmetry.

Yeah, I can't 100% agree either... maybe 85%. We ARE taught what to be attracted to to a very large degree, being malleable creatures... but there's also a strong undercurrent to be attracted to obvious signs of health and self-care (both of which tend to lead to a modest figure). Then again, why people like stick figures is beyond me. It's not healthy either.

 

[TheLastMohican]

I don't see how this contradicts with what I said. There is a lot of brain development before birth.

How can a fetus be taught what to like? It's rather dark in the womb.

 

[DoveAlexa]

I don't see how this contradicts with what I said. There is a lot of brain development before birth.

Uhm... but learning suggest outside forces teaching the unborn babies what beauty is and thats just... well pretty damned hard to do if not impossible. Not sure what you're getting at.

 

[slant]

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. That's why I'm putting together a campaign to end brainwashing of infants.

What's the difference between finding people attractive to look at and sexual attraction?

 

[enfp can be shy]

How can a fetus be taught what to like? It's rather dark in the womb.

Do not take the word "taught" literally. No one is performing teaching consciously in this case. Otherwise, yes, what I said would be certainly false.

Symmetry is about signal patterns, and a fetus is exposed to a lot of signal patterns in the womb. The study shows that (within our culture!) a baby is more likely to be exposed to more symmetrical signal patterns, than not - and that made me happy.

There was another study that shows the language most used around the pregnant mother is being learned by the baby easier.
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/01/28/0956797609360758.abstract
Just to illustrate that this phase is not unimportant.

 

[Holden On]

Good thread. Check out this video as well:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2gD80jv5ZQ"]Evolution of a Model[/ame]

It just makes me sick. She is perfectly attractive to begin with - she doesn't even look like herself by the end!

 

[TheLastMohican]

I want to clarify that this isn't another 'big is beautiful' thread. I'm not encouraging obesity, or curves, or anything like that.

I know, I'm saying that your usage makes more sense than the standard.

What's the difference between finding people attractive to look at and sexual attraction?

I can only speak for myself on this: visual attractiveness has little or nothing to do with my sexual orientation. I think some men are attractive to look at, even though I am not sexually attracted to them.
Furthermore, I would split sexual attraction into two categories. I can be sexually attracted to a person without remotely wanting to have sex with that person (if that makes any sense). Some sexual attraction is driven solely by visuals and instinct; other sexual attraction develops over time, fueled by awareness of personality and such, and is part of wanting to develop an actual relationship.