Patches for beauty? What will they come up with next?
I’m not sure whether you’ve seen the somewhat controversial viral video of the Doves: Patches advertisement**. Women were given a patch to wear that they are told by a Dove representative would enhance their beauty if they wore it. They were asked to come back and report on how they felt. Watch what happens:
As you can see this is all about how the women perceived themselves – they didn’t think they were beautiful until they wore the patch. The sad reality is that these women could be anyone of us. Questions we all need to ask ourselves are –
Do I constantly compare myself to other people?
Do I fall for standards of beauty that the media sets for me and other women around the world?
Do I believe I am beautiful?
I wrote this a few months ago and felt it fitted perfectly today:
I look into the mirror and say to myself
“Don’t hide your beauty anymore.
Don’t stop your laughter.
Don’t shield those eyes.
Don’t stoop those shoulders.
Don’t compare, accept.
Don’t judge, love”
I look in the mirror and see beautiful me.
I stand erect and feel good about myself.
I look deep into my eyes and appreciate my beauty.
I smile at my reflection and enjoy being me.
I breathe deeply, slowly, reveling in my body.
I claim my beauty.
I tell myself:
“I am beautiful.
I am courageous.
I am perfect just the way I am.
No makeup required.
This post is written for the letter ‘P’ for the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2014.
You might like to read this: Want To Be Your Own Best Friend? 10 Wonderful Ways To Make Friends With Yourself.
**Please note that the ad is consider somewhat controversial and has been criticised – read this for more.
This is very true. And somehow we have all fallen for similar things… has it really gotten so?
Richa Singh recently posted..Permanently Peeved
Such a perfectly beautiful post for P. I didn’t know about this patches thing until this post. It is really sad that so many women fall into the trap of these standards of beauty thrown at them by the irresponsible mass media. And in the Indian context especially, the less said about the fairness cream business, the better! It makes me angry that so many young women (and men) get trapped into using these skin-whitening creams etc. A very good post, Corinne.
Beloo Mehra recently posted..P is for Personality, Personality of a Teacher
This is really shocking- the ad, I mean. Haven’t seen it before. When will people learn to accept themselves for what they are?
Corinne, those words in that poem are so beautiful. I especially admire that line ‘..reveling in my body’. We need that-all of us. And the world, starting with the media and the advertising world, needs to stop this blatant marketing of fake ‘feel-good’ images.
Shailajav recently posted..Only That!
Beautiful! Every woman should read this. Inspiring!
Diane recently posted..A Little Cleaner
When counselling women, one of the things I have them do is look in the mirror and tell me what they see. When they learn to be honest with themselves they learn to love themselves. They need to see their beauty because it is there. Too often we see ourselves as we perceive others see us when it is not true. There is always beauty there and we need to recognize it.
Carol Graham recently posted..Dogs – P is for Perky
Speaks right to my mind. Nice post. I read it somewhere that if women started accepting themselves as what they are, many industries would go bankrupt.
Shine Kapoor recently posted..Pretentious: A-to-Z Challenge [18 April 2014]
I love this poem. It is something I need to read to myself every single day…seriously! Bookmarking this post for future reference and printing out your poem to post up to remind me each day. It is good for what ails me. Thank you.
Kathy recently posted..P is for Passion
Ah, a “beauty patch”, interesting! All a state of mind. I agree, if you feel you look good you usually look good. It is all about your expectations. The good old “placebo effect”.
The “no make-up” look, I always feel not so pretty. But once I put on “my face”, I feel better. Hey and not wearing glasses to look in the mirror, the age thing is no so depressing. Is that why our eyesight is not so good when we are older, so we don’t have to also see how old we actually look!
But all joking aside, it is such a shame that a placebo patch would transform lack of confidence into such changes. We are what we believe we are and I think we should all try to believe a little harder in how magnificent we really are.
Mary
Mary Stephenson recently posted..Eco Friendly and Save Some Money
The mind is super-powerful in ways we are only now beginning to understand. We are what we believe we are.
Carol Cassara recently posted..Writing your truth without apology
The mind is indeed very powerful. I was hoping there really was a patch for beauty…but wasn’t sure how that would work! I love that poem. We all should have it permanently attached to our bathroom mirrors!
Stephanie Faris recently posted..P is for Pizza!
so true corinne.. It is really dis heartening to see myself falling for such societal standards of beauty .. Your post just reminds me the truth ..
simple girl recently posted..AtoZchallenge -P for…Padma’s birthday
I can’t understand how wearing a patch can make us feel beautiful. We need that patch for the heart, actually, to build an internal confidence that we’re good and pretty and beautiful, not matter what our faults are !!
Thanks for sharing this here, Corinne. Such an eye-opener !
Sreeja Praveen recently posted..A to Z Random Post # 17 – Will you be my Queen ?
I don’t know how women can fall for such idiotic ads…but more than that how these ladies agree to shoot for this?
Corinne beautiful words. To love yourself as you are is the most powerful booster! We need to realize we are all unique and beautiful and intended to be the way we are!
Aditi recently posted..High on Olives
What a wonderful, meaningful, inspirational poem – thank you so much for sharing it!
Laurel Regan recently posted..Blogging from A to Z Challenge – Q is for…
I had not seen the ad, and find your points interesting.
KymberlyFunFit recently posted..Ease Out of Stress
Such a beautiful poem that is. Few of us think ourselves beautiful ‘just as we are’. I know I don’t feel confident if I’m not in my ‘going-out’ mode! It’s a pity but true it is :-(((.
feeling inferior comes easy, feeling OK with oneself is what needs effort. and daily dose of practice. ..earlier fair was beautiful… and the notion still isn’t null and void.. of course fair is beautiful, but dark and dusky is beautiful as well… the campaign by Nandita Dash, gave some momentum to this….
the greatest gist to oneself is accepting and feeling beautiful to the core…
Pratikshya recently posted..When I Look At The Stars…
These products play on people’s insecurity. Same is the case with children’s drinks that promise better growth or better thinking power or whatever nonsense the advertiser can think of.
No amount of campaigning against such advertisements is sufficient.
Proactive Indian recently posted..Questioning
What I find interesting about this is the women’s reactions when they are told what the patch contains.
Perfect! Whatever means it takes to make women understand their worth, is worth every cent and every moment of it.
Love your poem.
Visiting from A-Z
Sorry, but this would not have been me. I knew from the start that it was a placebo. I’m shocked that all these women fell for it. I’m even more shocked that they did not see themselves as beautiful to begin with.
Joyce recently posted..#AtoZ : Passover (Plague of Blood and Monthly Bloating)
That’s you, Corinne, beautiful inside and out! Love the poem and the ending “no makeup required.” Because, it isn’t in God’s eyes and shouldn’t be in ours.
Love and blessings!
Martha Orlando recently posted..The Road to Nowhere
The beauty industry feeds on our insecurities, by us I mean not only women but men too. If only everyone realized the marketing ploy, we would be laughing our way to the bank and the cosmetic and slimming cones would be shell shocked 🙂 Loved your poem, Corinne.
This is a need of the hour post!!! Lotta ppl getting obsessed with the make up stuffs this comes as an eye opener!
S(t)ri recently posted..12 Things Only A Brother With Elder Sister Will Have To Face!
ah! So true!!
I tell myself that every morning! That I am beautiful and that I need to smile because I’m awesome! It’s not over confidence.. its just confidence according to me!
but, I also love make up.. dressing up and taking time to primp in front of a mirror and to look even more beautiful is a ritual I enjoy! 🙂
Pixie recently posted..The Stalker
I used to skip it while watching videos in youtube. Didn’t know what it was till now. I have seen a lot of women having low self esteem who would go into a corner or a shell as soon as they see or interact with someone who’s more confident and presentable. It’s all a state of mind. A confident woman is always pretty.
I so loved your poem 🙂 beautiful and inspring words.
Rajlakshmi recently posted..The Ultra-Chic Complex