We live in a world where everyone from a famous celebrity to your local parlour lady is unconsciously laying down the norms on what’s beautiful. And we’re giving in. Waxing, plucking, tweezing and shaving our bodies before any big event seems like a regular routine, but these are simply conventions imposed on us by media and society – because God help if anyone sees a stray strand of hair on your limbs. Then, there’s the constant bikini body goal, think size zero figures, thigh gaps, washboard abs and a million other impossible standards that we dream of achieving, only resulting in poor body image and low self-esteem.
Contrary to these beliefs, the brand Dove decided to take a stand to promote beauty as a source of confidence and not anxiety by featuring ‘real women’ in their advertisements as part of their Real Beauty Pledge. Now, the brand is set to take things a step further with their latest initiative–the No Digital Distortion (NDD) Mark – a stamp that reiterates Dove’s commitment to only show accurate, real and non-distorted portrayal of people. By showcasing women in a realistic setting, Dove hopes to reassure women that beauty should not be restricted to a single stereotype, and that they should celebrate their own kind of beautiful. Through the initiative the brand hopes to help women develop a positive and confident self-image.
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You can expect to see this through all their static imagery by 2nd January 2019. Dove’s game changing move hopes to inspire the entire beauty industry to follow their steps in the same direction.
The initiative furthers Dove’s ongoing Self-EsteemProject (2004) that committed to deliver body confidence and self-esteem education to 40 million young people globally by 2020. It follows a series of unaltered beauty and confidence initiatives from the brand, which has delivered a string of celebrated female empowerment campaigns from ‘Evolution’ (2006) to ‘Real Beauty Sketches’ (2013).
So, the next time you post that picture on Instagram, skip the filter, break free from stereotypes and hit post. Embrace your own beautiful. Who knows, you might inspire someone else to be confident and do the same.
