A Constant Demand for Perfection

As people, we often demand perfection of ourselves. The companies of today are smart, and they aim to appease this feeling of want. Daily, there are advertisements explaining the best way to lose weight, gain hair, and even shave hair. Beauty has become the center of an already self-centered era. Technology aids this battle of self-esteem, especially through the medium of social media. Through social media, we constantly strive towards creating the perfect profile. This has become damaging, as profile pictures have become increasingly “Photoshopped,” making social media even more unrealistic.

Dove’s video, “Onslaught,” attacks the unrealistic body image curated by the media. As the untainted and happy young girl faces the camera, stereotypical images follow, portraying the media’s common unrealistic output. After the clichéd images are scenes of people trying strange diets and forcing themselves to throw up their food. These images result in a changed girl, one that is not as happy and also one who seems to follow the crowd.

A serious point of the “Onslaught” video is the earliness through which media confronts todays youth. These ideas of body image have been practically brainwashed into our heads since our formative years. For both men and women, this gives unrealistic expectations for how the opposite sex must present themselves to the other. Companies use this tactic with one goal in mind, which is money. Often, they will understand that consumers will likely buy a product if those using or wearing it are considered more “attractive.” This is very much like tobacco companies making the actors in their advertisements seem cool and attractive. People bought into cigarettes while generally knowing the effects in order to reach a certain image. In using this method, the media has created a set precedent for what attractive is and what it is not.

In conclusion, beauty companies and the media have a large hold on determining what is deemed “in” and “out,” in terms of bodily looks. For me, this is undermining the truth of beauty, because it belongs to everyone and these companies are saying it belongs only to a select few. Today’s culture is already self-centered with social media and by constantly following social trends we feed into the fire of these companies. As long as this continues, the problem will still exist.