Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Baby, you’re so beautiful

A long while ago, I was walking up to the prescription counter at the local pharmacy when I was smacked between the eyeballs by a poster. A positively adorable child with a caption that read, She thinks she’s ugly.

Have you ever wanted to wrap your arms around a stupid poster and argue with it?

How can you ever think you are anything but 150% beautiful, baby?!

Oh. Of course. Because you don’t look like someone from the cover of Cosmopolitan (check out Jezebel’s coverage of a magazine cover) (they use Certain Words in places, mom – you have been warned!) (that said, if you can stand Those Words, check out the ‘numeric’ depiction of the changes – hysterical! And yet, tragically, they ring so true to life…).

Naturally, you think you’re so ugly that mirrors may crack from the hideous impact of your image.

There is apparently a raging debate out there about Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. People can’t decide whether they love it or hate it. Neither can I. On the one hand, I appreciate any assistance that can be given. On the other, well. “Maker of cosmetic products tells girls and women they are not ugly – and here’s a coupon for fresh-scent refinishing crème!”

But for this commercial alone I’d say they were worth a look:



Take a good look. THIS is what we buy into. THIS is what sells magazines, and cosmetics, and fat-busting pills, and deodorant. THIS is what we’re trying to duplicate when we smear goop on our faces day and night, pay for microderm abrasion treatments, flit from product to product searching, searching, searching for that little vial which will transform us, finally, from hideous crawling worm to glorious butterfly – like the lady in the picture.

And this is what our daughters see. This is what our precious babies look at, too, what they compare themselves to, what they want their little nine year old bodies to be.

Show your daughters. Make sure they know: Nobody looks that good, baby. Not even her.

And you, dear child?

You’re so beautiful you make stars look dim.

Without a single click of the mouse…

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are absolutely dead-on. My 13 year old daughter is absolutely gorgeous and - so far - completely indifferent to the siren call of makeup, high fashion, etc. Problem is, I'm pretty sure that won't last. How do we convince our daughters that they're beautiful just as they are, when they've spent their lives hearing us despair about being not-good-enough the way we are? Sigh.

Kris said...

It is outrageous what the fashion industry does...

21stCenturyMom said...

That is awesome! I ran the Redbook atrocity on my blog but hadn't seen the video. Mind if I share?

Jeanne said...

That Faith Hill cover was mind-blowing! So is the video. No wonder we're all on anti-depressants. It was quite refreshing to see Faith looking like a normal human being, not the Goddess of Perfection I thought she was. Thank you for sharing that.