It’s time for women to own their true beauty and break the existing beauty stereotypes by harnessing their real power and value with Dove.
With time, the world’s association with beauty standards is getting a pivotal shift. This has been an enormous pressure on our women who are perpetually urged to narrow their individuality into societal moulds and succumb to beauty stereotypes. This has minimised their uniqueness, exhausted their self-esteem and drained their confidence for time immemorial.
So much so, curly haired women are continually living their lives between two iron panels with the intention to tame their spirals and twirls. Whereas, the darker-skinned sections are shying away from their alluring colour - only to conceal naturalness with foundations and concealers much lighter. On the other hand, women with curves are on an unending quest to fit into jeans; the narrow denims that cling tight and never right. So, let’s have a discussion about this with Dove and their message to awaken today’s goddesses about their true worth and value - while breaking several beauty stereotypes.
Breaking Beauty Biases
Bringing to the fore, the unedited, the raw and the real; Dove stands by real women, real solutions and real stories. To show the today’s ladies the truth that has been hidden from them and the advertised beauty biases, Dove unveils their Master Range; a collection of products that doesn’t promote unrealistic change and the beauty bias but brings self-love and pure care. With something on the shelves for every beauty type, they have attempted to deconstruct the beauty myths and have displayed their commitment to make every woman feel like the beauty magnate that they are. To know more, read on.
Breaking Beauty Myths (Biases)
In a world that is layered with fragile plastic, Dove chooses to unwarp the layers to uncover everyone’s true mettle and to-be celebrated beauty.
1. 'Thin Is In’
Our body is a temple, it is to be worshipped and cared for. However, the body shammers have dulled down our sparkle, making us believe, the only way to look better is to be thinner. These naysayers have made their space on the internet as strangers and into our family homes as aunts and uncles. Commenting on the girth of our waist, the thickness of our thighs, the bulkiness of our chins and the flabbiness of our arms, the larger women choose to cover up. Full sleeved shirts, and pants that flare towards the ankles. So, much so, women with weight to dislike the sight of their skin.
Which is why, they crumple their curves under corsets that align their proportions but all they do is harshly force the fat inwards – creating red impressions on the skin and damaging its tenderness. Do away with starvation; nibbling on the world’s two cents, Dove motivates these women to feed their souls with meals that nourishes their esteem and their skin with body food heals their skin. Break away from society’s notions, are love you skin for what it is; the buldges, the cellulite, the tiger stripes and the acne areas. After all, your dermis does a lot for you, give back by loving it.
2. ‘Bright Lips are Only for the Young’
Longer skirts, looser jeans, shorter heels and lesser makeup, are the so-called rules that stack up as our age does. If you spend minutes before the mirror at an age older than thirty, then the world is programmed to assume, attention is on the agenda. Which is why, our mothers and grandmothers' resort to the dimmer zones. Beige nail paint and subdued makeup – continually avoiding bold expressions; leaving opinions unsaid and lips never red.
Far from the fearless and the colours of confidence, Dove stands for women to be expressive and wear their red lip like a crown. Out and about with a plethora of desirable lip colours, it urges today’s bold breed to wear what they like when they like. Hoops and a matte red lip at the age of fifty or glossy lips and beaded clips at thirty? Style doesn’t hold hands with clock and calendar, in fact it’s bound to confidence and charisma. So, get the red paint out and prepare to colour the town and your lips.
There are beauty stereotypes but that doesn’t mean you overlook your makeup type!
3. 'Long Tresses Equals Temptress’
The feminine and its expectations, relate external appeal with inner traits. Long hair and lovely, she is one’s wife-to-be, baggy denims and bob; not worth the ring or a thing. Bridging the length of one's tresses with their womanly charm, the regressive are ever-ready to consider only to the long hair ladies to be the best feminine fit. To break this orthodox notion and make up for all the questions, doubts and hate you have imposed on your locks, let your hair down, quite literally and cherish it for what it is. A bit of frizz? Why not? Poker straight strands? We love that! Curly tresses? Who is complaining. Unleash your inner ‘mane’ character by owing you hair as it is.
4. 'Glasses Don’t Make You Look Twice’
The visual imparity lies within those who oversee the charm of glasses. Delicate and daring, resting on your ears, this conventional indicator of wisdom challenges modern-day beauty stereotypes. “She should be smart but no more than her spouse, and she should be pretty but that’s impossible if she wears specs!” Surrounded complaints and beauty stereotypes, contact lenses have emptied the racks and glasses continue to overflood the stores. Why? Because aid to see is announced ugly. However, if you’re a reader or a leader, don’t fall weak to the words of society, frame your features with power and *clink* to glasses that help you see better.
Also, never shy away from eye makeup behind your frames, go in for that winged liner, blended shadow, darkened kohl and glitter. After all, Dove believes every moment is yours to shine, whether behind a glare or not.
How to Break the Beauty Bias?
Comparison is the victim! Stemming from beauty bias in advertising, where hoardings and glossy magazine pages display women with clear skin, narrow waists, arched eyebrows and fuller lips; all a result of e-touch ups, impact us, the real women. After all, we don’t view ourselves through filters but in real mirrors. Therefore, the difference in what we see on our IG feeds, forces as to squeeze our waists, loath our scars and despise our features.
And in order break the beauty bias – what more could help? Advertisements to be more relatable; wherein all types of women must be represented. And while this shift may take time, we women must learn to view ourselves as perfect. Recognising our uniqueness to be the true jewels, we should no longer make irrational beauty leaps and so, move into a space of acceptance and self-love. We should fall back on products that don’t advertise beauty and stereotypes but those that empower us to better ourselves and reach our maximum existing potential.
If you’re on the verge of initiating a fresh beginning or are considering the birth of a new and confident new, lean on the stories of our powerful women, who dumped their insecurities and hone their true power and unique energy.
Real Stories by Real Women: Testimonies
What Niyati has to say
Growing up was a struggle, pretty much on all fronts. The worst thing though had to be that I was constantly pitted and compared with my young mother. From hearing words like, “Oh but your mom is so much prettier…she doesn't look like your mother, instead you look like hers!”
The continuity of these comparisons broke me - which is why, I grew up with a barrage of insecurities that stopped me from embracing who I am. I perpetually felt I wasn’t enough and was lacking something. This made my journey of realising my own self-worth a difficult one.
However, irrespective of these challenges and self-worth issues, I finally stood my ground. The turnaround time was long as breaking through years of negativity was a challenge but deep down, I knew I would emerge into the confident woman I was meant to be. And today, I feel good in my skin - just like I should’ve many years ago.
What Janika has to say
I don’t think a lot of people might have noticed, but I have this by-birth accidental injury that has affected my right hand. All through school, even college, I people would constantly joke about it. They used to mimic how I looked or how my arm looked. It was downright cruel and I would just feel disheartened, conscious and cry by myself. Back then I didn’t know how else to react. I think what hurt the most was not the comments but the fact that people didn’t even try to get to know what the issue was.
With time, I learnt not to care. I was comfortable in my own skin and body, regardless of how it was. Their words meant nothing and honestly, I wish I knew that back then. Today, I love everything about me and the people who are in my life respect and love me the same. That is the true win.
All in all, ladies, don’t allow the weight of people’s comments burden your shoulders and scar your morale, instead be courageous and self-accepting enough to brush their comments off – like dust. Also, wear your #youniquness like a crown; flaunt its jewels and don’t let it fall off – after all, you are the main character of your life and loving yourself is the only way you can make your story memorable and one worth telling. So, go one write your tale and embrace your perfections like you deserve to.
Written by Anushka Shah on Oct 10, 2022