Video – Dove's Evolution of Beauty, Onslaught & Fried

Since their release less than 2 years ago, Dove’s Evolution of Beauty, Onslaught, and Fried videos have been viewed by millions of viewers and inspired numerous spin offs and spoofs.
Evolution reduces hours of makeup and digital retouching to one minute with time-lapse images.
Onslaught raises challenging questions about perception of femininity and early stereotyping.
Fried’s display of coiffure creation is more tongue and cheek with an inevitable conclusion.
Many people like to criticize contemporary notions of idealized beauty. I feel the core problem is not fantasy itself but confusing fiction with reality. Our fantasies (cultural or individual) can tell us a lot about ourselves psychologically. But, we all know that disaster can strike when we confuse fiction and fact, fantasy and reality. In the case of confusion over contemporary western female beauty, a long list of problems arises – greatly reduced self-esteem, prejudice, stigma, anorexia and bulemia, even death are just a few. All of us suffer when we adhere to limited definitions of beauty. Expanding our awareness of the many kinds of beauty (both external and internal, physical and social) that surround us is not only conscientious but enlightened. Imagine how much more inspiring your life would be if every day you saw more beauty all around you. Kudos to Dove (a company in the business of selling beauty products) for taking this stand and not only effectively raising awareness but also offering education, skills, and choice.
The Dove Self-Esteem Fund was developed to help free the next generation from self-limiting beauty stereotypes. Committed to reaching 5 million young women by the end of 2010, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund invites you to play a role in supporting and promoting a wider definition of beauty.
“At Dove®, our mission is to make more women feel more beautiful everyday. We believe women with strong confidence and positive self-esteem are beautiful. That is why we have partnered with the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, a not-for-profit organization, to encourage real women to share real success stories and learn from one another. We invite you to participate in these online training modules as a first step to begin a successful and beautiful journey.”
See the Dove videos here (including Amy).
Find out more about the Dove Self-Esteem Fund here.
Find out about Dove’s partnership with the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership here.
What do you think about Dove’s initiative? Comment here!