Dove’s advertising ‘Beauty standards of looks are a form of bias’ uses the form of interviews, to show how women struggle with their looks at some point, they discuss how beauty biases affect their careers and lives
Break the ‘Beauty standard’
When analyzing dove’s original intention for this campaign, I was reminded of ‘Beauty standards’, where the mass media has spread a lot about ‘beauty standards, just like the ‘culture industry’ thesis mentioned, popular culture has an ideological function, and it raised concerns about the mass production of culture.
The structure of popular culture has been standardized, Dove wants to break the anxiety caused by this ‘beauty standard’, and has always advocated a broader definition of beauty, with a long-term commitment to creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence rather than anxiety. This can also relate to the idea of feminism, which emphasizes solving individual problems, and is associated with empowerment, being the ‘most powered’ version of herself, focusing on the individual. Each individual can define her own beauty without trying to fit a standard, it has a critique of racism, capitalism and patriarchy.
The Ideology aspect
But eliminating this anxiety entirely is too idealistic, explain more on this, as Marxist philosophy mentions in the idea of the ruling class, the capitalist social class owns the meaning of production, and they determine and establish the dominant ideology. Ideologies are deliberately constructed by bourgeois and petty-bourgeois intellectuals and then disseminated through the mass communication media. Because they control the communications industry, the bourgeoisie can choose, decide, and disseminate the ideologies that advance their goals as the society’s dominant group.
People are subconsciously instilled with standards of beauty, the mass media have a large role in influencing society’s perception of beauty and the individual’s pursuit of an idealised body shape, for example, they shape the perception of beauty and appearance by leading women to internalise a very slim body type as ideal or beautiful.
Dove’s campaign
The answers from Interviewees in Dove’s campaign also reflect the inequality of gender, and the stereotypes between men and women, particularly in familial connections, men are viewed as more economically valuable human beings, and male-dominated professions are viewed as more economically beneficial and capable of paying greater earnings. On the other side, women are viewed as being nurturing and compassionate. People’s attitudes and views start to change as expectations of gender roles get imprinted in their thoughts, and their behaviour is characterised by a variety of norms.
Dove’s commercial interests
Dove chose to tackle the unrealistic portrayal of beauty and its devastating impact on women, while at the same time this campaign can alter people’s perception of the brand: old and unchanging. Dove’s goal is to reach a younger audience without alienating existing consumers, and the launch of their series of campaign allowed Dove to reposition itself from a beauty brand to a personal care brand, establishing itself as a personal care brand allows Dove to further launch new products. Although it is difficult to completely change people’s beauty anxieties, more and more such attempts can gradually reverse the perception of the quest for the ‘perfect body’.