That Goddamn Dove Video

I am not even linking to it.  It is too ridiculous.

Why do people think this is inspirational?  Seriously, if anybody out there has a thought, would you tell me?  I get the emotional response of identifying with the women who realize that they think of themselves as ugly.  But all of the descriptors are loaded, all of them focus on "good qualities" that describe a very particular notion of beauty.  "A nice, thin chin."  "She was thin, so you could see her cheekbones."  Is the idea that other people don't think you're as fat as you think you are supposed to be revolutionary?

If I were in that room and described my face as fat, would the sketch artist draw me as a sad-face fatty?  And if another person came in and said, "her face is chubby, but..." would that be supposed to make me feel better?  Because that is backhanded as all hell.  And reminds me very much of how people go, "Oh, you're not fat," and mean "You're not lazy/stupid/ugly/politically conservative/one of those people."  What they've just said is that fatness is all of those things in their mind, and you're not those things.  But fatness is, and you are fat.

What about the idea that it's not such a bad/ugly/shameful thing to be fat?  If one woman described her own face as "chubby and puffy" and another woman described that same face as "sweet and chubby," I'd bet the second sketch would still be "prettier," but the descriptions wouldn't necessarily be reinforcing the reified beauty standard.  You know, the one that Dove makes money off while purporting to be totally over.  It's just so sad for Dove that ladies feel so bad about themselves.  Dove wishes the world could be kinder, you guys.  Just not so kind that you forget to buy cellulite cream or whatever.

And also, while the second sketches were prettier, were they more accurate?

And what of the self-love that plain women might strive for?

That bullshit is ridiculous.  I cannot even.