Results tagged “body image issues” from iVillage - Beehive

Following the success of its viral video "Evolution", Dove recently launched a new ad that could be a wake-up call to parents everywhere. "Onslaught" features a young girl being bombarded with images from the beauty industry's "ugly side": gyrating dancers, sales pitches for diet pills, a bulimic woman throwing up, cosmetic surgery procedures. And finally, the message: "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does."

The ad has received thousands of views on YouTube since its launch, and it also had the iVillage boards buzzing as well.

What do iVillagers have to say? Many members, such as miiraclle, applaud Dove for exposing the media’s role in perpetuating an unattainable standard of beauty: “I am glad that the media is being ‘called out’ [for] pushing these unrealistic [beauty] standards and that someone is helping parents help their children love themselves. It is very frustrating trying to keep up with the thin, young and beautiful images you see all around you.”

iVillage moms, especially those with young daughters of their own, such as cl-mom2emandmaddie, found the ad enlightening: “Watching the ad was eye-opening for me. I usually don’t pay attention to [ads from the beauty industry], but I’ve noticed my [daughter] asking me how much she weighs, etc. It makes me pay a lot more attention to what she watches and reads. It reminds me to constantly praise her and let her know her body is beautiful no matter what.” iVillage member littlebird74 agrees: “[The video] is quite disturbing … But I'm glad there is a large corporation that is helping us fight this issue. It made me want to hug my daughter. I don’t want her to ever think she is not good enough.”

Some can’t help wonder, however, if the ad is just a tad hypocritical. Dove itself is part of the beauty industry it attacks (they sell a skin-firming/cellulite-reducing lotion), and its parent company, Unilever, also manufactures Axe (whose commercials feature guys attracting sexy women) and Slim-Fast.

But many iVillagers still feel that the message—not the company behind it—is what’s more important. Says member mikaismommy: “Of course [Dove] will gain from this in a financial manner, but I think the message is the most important [issue]. Women need to accept themselves for who they truly are, and not for what the media portrays. I think that this type of conversation is essential to women of any age. I'm totally for this new awareness of the issues surrounding body image and self image in the media.”

Others, however, were a bit disturbed by Dove's approach. Member sara_ou says: “It seems a little extreme to me. I guess I wasn't raised in front of the TV… because we lived way out in the middle of nowhere. We were outside a lot, we played games, we read books. And my parents always supported us and said that we could be whatever we wanted to be.”

Some iVillage parents, such as cl-cavegirl75, also feel that the ad should have addressed the fact that body image issues affect both girls and boys. “I'm troubled that people seem to ignore that the issue isn't JUST a girl issue. Boys may have lower rates of eating disorders and self-mutilation, but that doesn't mean they're unaffected.” And, as mommasboyz points out, boys can also be part of the problem.

Moms who have struggled with their own body image issues, such as kmattfield, think that aside from the media, a parent’s own behavior can also have a big impact on their daughter’s self-esteem: “Speaking as someone who has dealt with eating disorders for the last 22 years, I think [an ad like this] is well overdue. We are always striving for perfection in our society and it's not going to happen … When I found out my second child was a girl, I cried. Not tears of joy, but frightened tears … I was/am so afraid of my daughter learning this behavior from me.”

And that’s why many iVillagers agree that the campaign tagline asking moms to talk to their daughters about beauty pressures is one that should be heeded. Member carketch says: “Parents should take an active role in building their children’s self-esteem. There is little question that the pervasive marketing of beauty and diet products, and the glamorization of stick-thin celebrities can have a detrimental effect on a little girl's self-image. The child IS going to be exposed to that imagery, we can't stop that. But we can do our best to counteract it, if we talk to them about it.”

What do you think about Dove’s latest ad? Is it effective, or does it go too far? Do you talk to your kids about body issues?