Is Beauty Toxic?

Another effort made is by the “Beautiful Women Project” which also operates in the Ottawa area. This “project” is artwork created by artist Cheryl-Ann Webster, which is composed of over one hundred artistically painted body casts of the front torso of different women, all shapes and sizes. The inspiration of this project came from Cheryl-Ann’s discovery of her twelve-year-old daughter saving money for breast implants. This child was only starting to mature, and she already felt the pressure of women and girls too appear a certain way. Cheryl-Ann now travels doing presentations of her art work, and conscious-raises about the issues and impact of women’s bodies. Each body cast has its own story.

Dove products, which are comprised of various cleansing products for women, recently changed their advertising scheme. Their television commercials now feature women of various shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnicities with the purpose of promoting a healthier image for women. Dove also started a campaign titled, “Campaign for Real Beauty” in which they are targeting the self-esteem of women, and are raising funds for the cause.

I have made my own efforts in trying to raise the awareness of the public regarding these issues and change the way women are perceived. I worked with the “Womyn’s Centre” at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada on a calendar promoting a healthier image for women. This calendar features different months designated towards different women in different fields of interest such as, “Engineering Women”, “Athletic Women”, and “Artistic Women”. The purpose was to make our best effort to reflect the beauty and personality within, and not simply without.

Nearly any calendar on the market objectifies women. Very few feature “average” looking women, or care about who they are. True they do also do this to men, but I am sure you can count for yourself how many calendars do this to women as oppose to men. If there were a calendar of female athletes, as they do men, I can almost guarantee they will be posed very sexualized with little clothes.

Too many women respond to the “beauty” images of women by feeling the need to objectify themselves in order to gain the acceptance of men or so that they feel worthy. Women should be getting angry and seeing the truth instead of becoming part of the problem! I know, easier said than done. The result is that women never really feel good enough, resulting in plastic surgeries, cosmetics, and sometimes eating disorders.