Dove is proving the drastic effects of the media on women’s self-perception in its recently released viral video.

The expectations for women are overwhelming in today’s society, which include looks, how they should act and whom they should aspire to resemble. Women often get caught up in the glamorized female perception the media create, and this causes some to feel their beauty is inadequate.

These standards seem to perpetuate widespread female confusion, as the consumption of many beauty ideals in the media causes women to internalize stereotypes. Women begin to judge themselves and their beauty based on what they are repeatedly told is beautiful in our society.

So is there hope? Yes. Real beauty exists, and it’s not in the pages of glossy magazines or on the big screens of movie theaters. Dove’s viral video, which has garnered more than a million views online, shows how female individuals are more beautiful than they perceive themselves to be.

The video, titled “Dove Real Beauty Sketches,” does an excellent job of depicting how culture influences women’s self-esteem. In the experiment, a woman describes her looks to a forensic artist. She is then described to the artist again, but this time by a stranger. The artist, who is hidden behind a floor-length curtain, listens and sketches both of their depictions.

The result was eye-opening, and exposed the poor self-confidence many women have about their appearance. When describing themselves, women were extremely critical of their faces, describing their foreheads as too large, chins protruding out and skin wrinkled and worn.

But when other people were asked to describe the same woman, the depictions were much different. They described the women’s faces as having friendly eyes, beautiful hair and overall nice features.

At the end of the Dove video, the forensic artist put up both sketches, meant to depict the same person, and showed the women the results. The women were shocked at the differences. Every woman looked drastically more beautiful in the sketches of themselves described by others than of the sketches of their self-descriptions.

This video has a powerful message. Though some people are still highly critical of Dove because of its affiliation with Axe, the video’s purpose is still strong.

Women and gender will always be delicate subjects to analyze because there are so many factors that can make a message insincere or inaccurate. But if every attempt to improve women’s image in society is met with equal resistance by individuals who find it to not be genuine enough, then no progress will be made.

Almost every action in the media and in our culture can be scrutinized for its inaccurate or demeaning representation of women. Therefore, when efforts are made to improve these representations, it is important for women to take a supportive stand, rather than allow themselves to be negatively affected.

What inspires one woman to look at the perception of beauty differently might not be the same for another.

Women need to find their own inspiration; there is no single answer for how every female should feel about women and gender. Seek to inspire thought and reflection, but realize there is not one definition of it means to be a woman.

Paris Bethel is a sophomore advertising major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected].

Published on April 24, 2013 at 8:00 am