Dove's "Selfie" - Opening up a conversation

 To mark the 10 year anniversary of their Real Beauty campaign, Dove worked with Academy Award winning film maker Cynthia Wade and producer Sharon Liese in partnership with the Sundance Institute to produce a film that examines the way young women feel about themselves and the way they attempt to alter, camouflage, or hide parts of themselves that they are self-conscious about. It also highlights how self-esteem and body consciousness is passed down from parents to their children. 

The 8 minute film follows a group of high school girls and their mothers, as they create selfies which celebrate their beauty in authentic, honest ways without the use of editing, filters, cropping, etc... (Dove United States, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFkm1Hg4dTI)

           Stills from the film, Selfie, 2014, Cynthia Wade / Dove

The young women and their mothers took part in a photography/self-esteem workshop before taking their honest selfies and hosting a vernisage where the photos were displayed. At the show visitors had the opportunity to put Post-it notes on the photos highlighting the beauty they saw through the honest selfies. The main goal of the Selfie project was to show how the "power to redefine what is beautiful in all of us." (Dove United States)

In discussing this video, Kelly Schwarze (Jan.2014) at GeekSugar.com brings up a good point, is social media actually replacing the role of mainstream media in influencing how people, especially young people, develop their views of beauty? I think that it is really an integral part of what the video is getting at but what a great point of discussion to bring up directly with students!

I also appreciate the involvement of the parents in this video because it does not put all the blame on social media - our parent's eyes are likely the first lens from which we view ourselves and unfortunately, unless parents are conscious about it, often their own insecurities shine through and transfer to their children. Again, this is a good discussion to have with students and could be the focus of a self-portrait / portraiture assignment to use with students. 

Even I am guilty of it - no double chin here!
Selfie c. 2013

Although I feel that Dove is making an effort to get behind some societal change with their Real Beauty campaign and it's different programs, one cannot forget that they are still a company that at the end of the day just wants to sell more of their products.  Some, such as Sophia Breene at Greatist.com (Jan 2014) feel that the video is hypocritical and patronzing, while others like Brogan Discol (Jan 2014) of Huffington Post, feel that although the effort is nice, it is just a drop in the sea against a tsunami of negative images and scary teenage trends which are reinforced by the posted selfies of millions each day.

What do you think? What would your students think?

What I see coming from this using this video in class is a good introduction to an open discussion about body image, self-esteem, and a look at what influences us along with a good way to work backwards through the history and traditions of self portraiture in art and photography. 

I think the work of Frida Kahlo, although not photography, would be particularly interesting to introduce in this conversation since she so unabashedly highlighted her own insecurities and unconventional features in her work.

Photographer Vivian Maier takes self portraits in unique ways and in a variety of locations which change the relationship to the actual self portrait intertwining the concepts of identity, time and place. Looking at her work could put a different spin on a self portraiture assignment as well.

Self-portrait,n.d. Vivian Maier, http://www.vivianmaier.com/gallery/self-portraits/#slide-16

Breene, Sophia.(Jan 2014).

Why Dove's Latest "Real Beauty" Ad Doesn't Actually Empower Women, Greatist.com. http://greatist.com/happiness/dove-selfie-ad-012314

Driscol, Brogan.(Jan 2014)
Selfie-Esteem: Dove Launches New Real Beauty Campaign, But Is It Effective? Huffington Post: United Kingdom. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/23/dove-real-beauty-selfie_n_4650573.html

Vivian Maier, Self-Portraits, Maloof Collection, Ltd.http://www.vivianmaier.com/gallery/self-portraits/

Schwarze, Kelly.(Jan 2014). Dove Selfie Video, GeekSugar.com, http://www.geeksugar.com/Dove-Selfie-Video-33699690.