Hruby’s sheds a tear for the fat and the ugly:
Dove wants me to join something called the “Campaign for Real Beauty” because the greatest issue facing our girls is feeling too fat or wanting to be blond, and the solution is buying skin care products that will magically boost one’s self-esteem. Right. Maybe in Oprah’s America. As for me, sorry if I’m not ready to march on Washington for this. Look, it’s simply not a tragedy when watching Jessica Simpson in a video makes a little girl feel less pretty, any more than it’s a tragedy when listening to Simpson open her mouth makes the same little girl feel less dumb. Promote a similar “Campaign for Real Athletes” — with pictures of little boys and sad captions like “DOESN’T THINK HE’LL EVER PLAY IN SUPER BOWL” — and you’d be laughed off the air…. Did anyone tell the Campaign for Real Beauty about those Slim-Fast ads?
I suspect the whole campaign was originally conceived by a man, because anything that relies this shamelessly on sanctifying and taking advantage of female insecurity almost has to have been thought up by someone accustomed to ruthlessly preying on women.