New Dove advertising

I totally agree with you on how awesome the ads are. Myself being plus sized feel that its a wonderful ad. I give those woman a lot of props for posing in their bra and panties. And its still a same that people are so close minded and the only models in the world should be a size 00. It's disgusting on how people think in the world, and they need to open up and adjust to reality!

I think they're a big step in the right direction, but they still rub me the wrong way. These girls may be 'plus sized' in the modelling world, but compared to the average size of women, they're still on the small side, but it's a good step in the right direction. Not only that, but they show all these fabulous and actually healthy women, and then imply that they aren't good enough, because hey, if you look like this, you need our thigh firming lotion!

I think most of the backlash is from men really. Most of the women I've talked to think these ads are still a little off, but a generally good idea, because they're sick of being presented just the teeny tiny underweight ideal that hammers at them from every other advertisement.

i love seeing curvy woman on reprsented in the media as well. not to mention being totally sexy, it's a step in the right direction. but what bugs me about the dove advertisments themselves is this: i opened up a magazine while standing in line at the grocery store and noticed one of the new dove ads. it featured three glowing gorgeous real-looking curvy woman then i go on to read the text and it's for there "skin-firming" body wash or something like that. thats the product being sold. to paraprase it something about how great real curvy bodies are and then went on talk about how you need this body wash becuase it will keep your sking "firm", so basically what i get the underlying message is: "it's fine to be full figured but make sure your skins not flabby or hanging off of you"
the way i see it advertisers will apease the fact that consumers want to see models that look more like them, so they do that, but their still that underlying persistant message thats always been in advertising for beuty and personal care products, that you'll never quite be good or pretty enough with out their product.
like i said i do think it's a step in the right direction but given the context that this is advertiser pushing a product to make your skin "better" than it already is. that it is a marketing ploy in this case.

I agree that it's somewhat paradoxical to see these ads are for firming cream, but I still like them. I like a more realistic image being put up as 'acceptable' in the face of all those unrealistic images that tell us that we're simply not good enough.

What I like the most about this program though, is that a lot of money is going into programs to tell girls that they're beautiful. In my opinion, it's one huge step in combatting the message that girls get from very young ages: that they're not good enough and can only consume, consume, consume, to even try to be beautiful. Anyone whose interested in debunking the myth that we're not good enough how we are is generally okay with me.

Another thing - even though it's firming cream, that it says it's to "keep" your skin firm, is quite progressive. I.E., it's telling you NOT to change, that you're beautiful how you are. I mean, they're still trying to make money - but they're going in a better direction.

I think it's dumb that "plus size models" even have to have a classification of their own. Like why can't they just be "models"? I just don't see why the world has to be reminded these models are bigger every time people see them. I guess you can see it in good ways and bad ways. It might be empowering for a woman to say "I'm plus sized, and damn right I'm a model.." But then it also might be something she's insecure about since she had to even be classified as a plus size. I don't know how to explain what I want to say so I hope you all get it and I hope none of what I said was offensive in any way...? :shock: I'm runnin on two hours of sleep

I don't agree with the article and I do think that overweight women with confidence are beautiful, but at the same time if they advertise overweight people excessively, then that'll give children and other people the idea that being obese is okay. But being overly obese really isn't ok, it leads to many dangerous health problems.

Coming from the other side, I don't think its healthy for them to have anorexic models on advertisements either, it gives girls the wrong image.

Now what they need to do is pick random people off the streets to use as models. Thats as real as they can get right there.

:? I don't think it would make people think it's OK to be obese. I think that it would let them know that it's ok to be human and not a fucking barbie. Plus, those women are far from obese anyway, they can barely even be considered plus sized. I don't know. I don't see why there should be any kind of controversy over the whole thing. Why the fuck can't you be a model if you're over 95lbs without someone complaining that you are too fat to be in the public eye. I'd like to see just what these people look like that are actually fucking complaining about it, because I highly doubt that they are without flaws.. :x

Yeah those models are in no way plus size let alone obese.

I totally love that idea.

You also said that showing "obesity" can make people (esp. kids) think it`s ok...
But showing 95lb models, makes women, girls, and from what I`ve seen especially young girls, think it`s OK to be that size. And they starve themselves, and that too has some pretty serious health risks.

I like the general idea behind the new dove ads/commercials. But they could still fix it.
I like the idea of telling woman to be comfortable in their own skin.

My biggest issue is that they are portraying "real" women. My question is: what is a real woman?

One with curves? one over 130 lbs? Who wears a size 8 or bigger?

I am uncomfortable with women defining their worth and if they are "real" by their size. Small women are real women too (and I am saying this as a plus sized mama.)

I think a REAL woman is a woman who is comfortable in her own skin and isn't ashamed to be herself.

To me, "real" women means an accurate representation of women, and all women, not just one size or skin color. I just pulled out an issue of Teen magazine from 2000 and counted the women in the advertisements. In the advertisements alone, there were 49 women. Not a single one could've been over a size 10. That is not an accurate representation of real women. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the average weight for an adult female in the U.S. is 162.9 pounds, and how many of those models honestly weigh anywhere near that?

I have nothing against women who are size 0, but it makes me upset when they are the only ones represented. I do have a problem with that not only because they're the only ones represented, but because it only ads fuel to the fire for women with eating disorders, and influences girls to diet excessively and not think about their health first, only about their weight.

So, anyways, I agree that it is definitely a step in the right direction.

I think trying to define who is a woman and who isn't is problematic. Can you define who is a "real man"? No you can't. (general you)

I am going to make another thread about this since I think this idea is a good one to explore.

Can you define obese to me? Because I don't think that showing women who are a size 10-14 is showing women who are "obese". Marilin Monroe was a size 12, would you say she was obese?
I absolutly despise the arguement that we can't have fat women as modles because it will encourage obesity. I have spent my WHOLE LIFE being "the chubby one", and I have spent my WHOLE LIFE hating my body, and I hoenestly think that had I seen more bodies like mine on advertisments, and in other media forms I wouldn't have such an issue with it. You know what? I'm fat. And, I'm healthy. I can bend over and touch my toes. I eat organics, in a very low saturated fat diet, with little to no highfrictose corn syrup. I bike EVERYWHERE in the summer, and do yoga almost every morning and almost every evening. But, I am FAT.
And, (and I'm finally starting to believe this now), I'm HAWT as hell.
http://www.casadelpopolo.com/voce0109/0190iamfat.html Check out this article on fatphobia.

ALL body types should be represented. How wonderful would that be, if everywhere we looked we could see people that look vaguly like us -- either having our hair, skin color, body type, gender, age, etc. I think that clothing would finally start to be made to fit a variety of people (because it would have to actually look good on the models), and that our society would begin to have drastic changes in the social fabric - from racism to all sorts of body image issues.

Yeah I guess I see what you're saying..

I have free time at work today, so I'm going to print out that article on my break and share it with a few people :) Is that okay?