Do you ever pick up a bottle of body wash and think: this doesn’t represent my body type? Or do you look at that tall and slender piece of plastic and wonder: wouldn’t I love a bottle that’s just like me, short and pear-shaped?
No? Me neither.
Apparently, Dove — a company that prides itself on celebrating “real beauty” — wants me to care about the shape of the body wash I purchase. In a ridiculous new campaign, the beauty corporation is showcasing diverse body types in their packaging.“From curvaceous to slender, tall to petite, and whatever your skin colour, shoe size or hair type, beauty comes in a million different shapes and sizes,” a Dove statement read. “Our six exclusive bottle designs celebrate this diversity; just like women, we wanted to show that our iconic bottle can come in all shapes and sizes, too.”
That’s right — Dove has changed the bottles for their body wash to represent different body types. Take a look at some of the examples below:
This is one of the stupidest attempts at body positivity I’ve ever seen.
There is nothing about a regular body wash bottle that is offensive to women, not unless it displays sexist remarks or hate messages on the label. It’s a bottle. It is a package for what is inside it. The fact that it is “skinny” or “lengthy” does not make me, a pear-shaped woman, feel uncomfortable. You know what makes me feel uncomfortable? Staring at a shelf wondering whether I will get weird looks if I pick a bottle that doesn’t “represent” my body type. Will the cashier look at me and go “she really thinks she looks like that!”
I understand the concept — kind of. Women are constantly bombarded by images of what society indicates is “perfection”. Social media is even worse. According to the Dove press release, “one in two women feel social media puts pressure on them to look a certain way.”
And that statement is true. The problem is that this campaign does exactly that. It reminds people they may not be their ideal body shape. It may cause those body conscious people to overthink about their body type, wondering whether or not other people see them as short, skinny, plump, or pear-shaped. Instead of encouraging body positivity, the campaign encourages women to think of themselves differently. It ultimately forces women to consider their body type in comparison to others. Isn’t that what Dove is trying to avoid?
Just because something is described as “feminist” and “body positive” doesn’t mean it should be. In fact, this seems more like a money-grab, capitalizing on the women’s movement in a really moronic way.
What do you think of this campaign? Is this #RealBeauty or #ReallyStupid? Let us know in the comments below!