Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Campaign spotlights 'real' women

I think one of the worst parts of summertime for a woman is finding a bathing suit. There's nothing like dragging in a dozen or so bathing suits into a dressing room and not coming out with a single one.

Back to square one.

Why does picking out a bathing suit, or even clothes for that matter, have to be so hard?

It's amazing to me to see all these girls on television and in movies that are around my age and are so tiny.

Sometimes I have to beat it in my brain that they have personal trainers who work hours everyday with them, and people who watch every morsel of food that they put into their mouth.

With the help of Dove and its new campaign, this season for shopping shouldn't be too bad. I think advertisers are getting smart and realizing not every woman in the world can look like those public figures we see donning every magazine page and televison commercial. The campaign for real beauty by Dove that has been seen in just about every advertising outlet know to mankind hits the right spot.

Rather than looking at women, who stand taller than 6-feet and weight less than my left leg, Dove embarked on a campaign that portrays a more realistic woman's body.

The six women, all shapes and sizes, can be seen on billboards, magazines, Web sites and other advertising outlets, in untouched photographs and standing in their bare essentials.

The women are not models and Dove is trying to get women to stand tall and celebrate their curves.

I was listening to The Today Show this morning and something Katie Couric said really caught my attention.

More women over the age of 35 are developing and suffering from eating disorders.

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychological disease, and at least eight million people in the United States suffer from some type of eating disorder.

A woman who stands 5'4" tall is supposed to weigh at an average of 145 pounds, wear a 11-14 dress size, have a 36-37" bust, 29-31" waist and 40-42" hips.

Dove's campaign is in the right direction for the 21st century and hopefully, more women will see that beautiful women come in all shapes and sizes.

Mary-Allison Lancaster is the Managing editor of The Brewton Standard. She can be reached by e-mail at mlancaster@brewtonstandard.com or by phone at 25.867.4876.