The Chicagoist Kicks Ad Butt
July 24, 2005
Jane was trolling about her Bloglines links today and lo! we came across the most fascinating article (thanks to Blog of a Bookslut) in the Chicagoist discussing certain negative reactions some members of that other gender have had to Dove's "real women" ads, as reported in the Sun-Times. To quote, "But don't be quick to judge me as "a typical man" who buys into the myth that all women are a size 0 and never use the bathroom. I just prefer that "real people" never pose in ads -- especially not in their underwear. That goes for men and women."
Apparently, some fellows can't handle the truth. Wait...seems to Jane that term was uttered by a fella...one that we have doubts about being able to handle this kind of truth, also.
Truth is: women are NOT all made like Victoria Secret's models. Women are NOT (and don't aspire to being) like Lara Flynn Boyle (where the underlying URL for her pic is part of a "perfect people" site!) or even Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond fame (who recently had her breasts and face
lifted; not a bad thing, but...one that the everyday, ordinary woman hurrying to work every day, or rising to get the kids off to school, will ever be able to afford). Truth is: we're learning to be content with our looks, short or tall, fat or thin, size 8 or 14, big breasts or no breasts.
The real Truth is more compelling: we are well represented in the Dove ads...and the Chicagoist gets kudos and a round of hearty applause from Jane. The Sun-Times and the men who can't see beyond the hype on TV, get mud pies, hopefully right in the face.
Behold, beauty of another sort, in another time: Rubens' Three Graces. Not a lot has changed...except the perception of some men with IQs of...a dung-beetle.
What's not to like about that?
The first time I saw one of the new Dove ads was as a huge poster on a bus stop bench cover. I couldn't see any of the words as I was driving by, just a nearly full page image of one woman (maybe size 16?) standing in her bra and panties.
And until I saw the same style ad in one of the magazines I read - where three women were hanging out together in their underwear and I could read the advertisement, I was totally confused about that bus poster. What were they trying to sell?
The curiosity, followed by magazine ad that helped me figure out what it was all about, has made the connection to Dove body products (not Dove chocolate!) crystal clear to me.
Posted by: Mona | July 24, 2005 at 01:22 PM