Dove’s recent campaign #StopTheBeautyTests takes us through various real-life stories that various women in the country have been a victim of- harsh matchmaking and the bitter judgment that comes with it.
The campaign captures the humiliation and dejection women feel when they don’t tick every single check box of the conventional beauty standards that have been used as a paradigm for eons. If a woman isn’t fair enough, if she’s not tall enough, if she doesn’t have straight jet black hair, if she’s not slim enough, or if her face has beauty marks, she’s more than likely to be rejected at the hands of the other family. Not once, not twice, but several times. All of which bruises her self-esteem to no ends. The campaign highlights the shallowness of which standards are placed for selection for marriage and how the search for finding the right bride is superficial.
Priya Nair, executive director,HUL and vice president, beauty and personal care, South Asia, said, “In a country of 631 million women, it is unfortunate that there is such intense pressure to adhere to one definition of beauty. As owners of some of the largest beauty brands in the country, the onus to make beauty more positive and more inclusive is on us. Dove has always believed that beauty should be a source of confidence, not anxiety. With #StopTheBeautyTest, we want to go one step forward in that direction.”
The campaign ends with Dove urging women to believe that they are enough and shouldn’t let conventional beauty norms dictate their self-worth. That woman shouldn’t have to endure the ugly paradigm that has confined her from seeing just how beautiful she is from within.
Dove promises to empower over 8 million people by 2024 through their self-esteem project.
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