Its Ok To Age And Be a Brunette

The above is a Dove commercial ad that was released a few years ago. I remember when the ad first came out I actually stopped what I was doing to watch it. I was intrigued by this revolutionary idea that women can actually be themselves. That women somehow found the strength to still be able to live a life that has been riddled with stretch-marks, crooked teeth, spider-veins, freckles and every little battle scar that has been dealt to them during the skirmish of life. Of course, this was not news to me or any other woman who still considered themselves a functional contributor to the human race and a beautiful one at that. Yet, the fact that Dove was willing to tap into this un-used market was by all accounts a yummy and scandalously innovative act; an act that was appreciated by many a woman. The ads have since been under some scrutiny as there are those who argue that they are retouched. While the latter may very well be true, the bigger point is being missed; compared to other ads involving women this is by far one of the mot positive, nationally commercial ads that portray women in a positive light.

Dove’s motto is “imagine a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety”. This motto should be beaten into girls time and time again and it starts in the schools. I truly believe that starting as early as Elementary School and through out a school career, there should be classes geared towards girls strictly addressing self confidence and self worth (and it should be called self recognition 101).The classes, coupled with more commercials like Dove, will make it clear to girls that flaws are what make an individual unique. It will allow them to know that this world is truly male dominated and once that is understood, girls can then see the true deceitfulness of what is being fed to them through all media facets.

Must there be a columbine like incident before people start to notice that young girls have some serious issues to contend with? The advertising agencies should be held accountable and I'm not talking about a lackluster approach to this crisis. I’m talking about an all out war with these companies; take it right back to the days of the women’s suffrage movements. The media itself can be used as a tool to advocate for the right to a healthy self image. Like ads nowadays addressing bullying that play on nickelodeon and “kiddie” channels, ads should be made addressing self image issues and played on those same channels targeting girls and lately, even boys. This new world that young girls are growing up in is a downright scary one. The challenge though, would be undoing years of self hatred. Yet, women are a resilient folk and like the baby steps that were being made in the earlier part of the century, mammoth changes regarding women's body images will be undertaken.