http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/aug/11/yehey/life/20050811lif1.html
Thursday, August 11, 2005
So you think you're beautiful?
Dove study reveals the Asian woman's views on physical beauty
By Terrie B. Fucanan
WOMEN, answer these questions: Are you one of those who wish they had the
gorgeous body of Halle Berry or the flawless skin of Nicole Kidman? Or are you,
with your freckled face, small breasts or plus size, one of those who look in
the mirror and see themselves beautiful nonetheless?
Is this woman dark or dazzling?
Beauty brand Dove is seeking to get a full grasp of the modern-day
woman's perceptions of physical beauty. On August 3, it has launched in Manila
the Campaign for Real Beauty, a pan-Asian communications movement that
challenges the beauty stereotypes of women in 11 countries. It initiates a
debate through such questions as:
"Do you think that more curves can make you attractive?"
"Do you accept that old women can be beautiful?"
"Can a woman be sexy without being busty?"
"Does skin really have to be flawless to be beautiful?"
"Is hair length a true measure of beauty?"
The campaign started when Research International, a custom market
research agency, revealed the results of the beauty perception study dubbed
"The Real Truth About Asian Beauty: Asian Women's Attitudes Toward Self-Esteem,
Body Image and Media Portrayal."
It was conducted on 2,000 Asian women from 10 countries, including
Thailand, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong
and the Philippines, with a questionnaire based on previous beauty perception
studies in Europe and America as developed by Unilever and Harvard University.
The results
With the 2,000 respondents, the study showed that only about 60 (or 3
percent) were comfortable in describing themselves as "beautiful." A third
chose to answer "simple or natural" while others opted for "average or normal."
In the Philippines, 5 percent call themselves beautiful.
It further revealed that Asian women mostly agree that humor and
happiness, dignity and confidence, kindness, intelligence and wisdom are more
important than sex appeal in terms of "feeling beautiful." Yet majority of the
respondents, especially Filipino and Vietnamese women, expressed the importance
of youth when it comes to "looking beautiful."
"In the Philippines, women are the most skewed toward youth, saying on
average that a woman looks most beautiful at 20 years of age," the report
states.
Filipino women also look up to show business personalities and models as
role models for girls, the study shows. This makes them "feel inadequate when
they look at beautiful women" and wished that media did a "better job at
portraying women of diverse physical characteristics." They also show a
preference to whiter skin, indicating that if they are to undergo a cosmetic
procedure, it would be for skin whitening.
On a more positive note, Filipinas showed in the survey a stronger sense
of happiness and satisfaction with their bodies and their lives than other
women in Asia. This may be influenced by the Filipina's high regard for family
and religion.
Half of Filipina respondents also said they feel beautiful mostly through
compliments of their family, whose opinion to them counts the most.
And despite the booming practice of cosmetic surgery in the country,
Filipinas still showed the highest satisfaction than anyone else in
"appearance, tone of their skin and their breasts." Women in Singapore, Hong
Kong and Japan seemed "the least happy with their bodies."
Sixty-one percent of Filipinas say their weight is "just right," the
highest percentage among all countries surveyed. And if ever cosmetic surgery
is given to them for free, Filipinas scored the lowest in the desire rate at 26
percent.
The debate
But while Filipino women generally showed in the survey a high
self-esteem and satisfaction over their appearance, they may not be really
happy about how they look, reason why only a meager 5 percent call themselves
beautiful.
And so Dove launched the campaign to find out the beauty stereotypes that
are stopping Filipinas from recognizing their beauty. On August 3 at The Loft
in Rockwell, Makati, Dove and the Women's Media Circle (WMC), a nonprofit group
working to empower women, held a beauty debate, with no less than talk show
host Boy Abunda as moderator.
Debate participants included former Ms. Universe Gloria Diaz, who boldly
declared that "beauty is 99-percent youth, the rest after your youth, you have
to redo;" WMC board member and columnist Rina Jimenez-David, who said she grew
up looking up to her mother with "fair skin and a tall nose," and award-winning
debater Patricia Evangelista who firmly asserted: "I am beautiful!"
Others in the panel were Unilever marketing director Noel Lorenzana,
Campaign for Real beauty advertising talent Mia Sebastian, MTV VJ Nicole
Fonacier, talk show host Drew Arellano, renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Florencio
Abad and sociologist Dr. Josefina Natividad.
Unveiled during the debate were six images of women in various sizes,
color, and age. The blown-up images of a Japanese woman with natural grey hair,
a plus-size Australian, a flat-chested Thai girl, a freckled Singaporean, a
short-haired Thai and finally, Mia Sebastian as the Filipino morena did not go
through any editing process to highlight their respective beauty. Through the
campaign's questions, the images serve to challenge women all over Asia to
rethink current beauty stereotypes.
"We are here to encourage women to celebrate beauty that comes in
different shapes, sizes and ages," said Unilever marketing manager Dondi Gomez.
"We want to widen the narrow and unrealistic beauty stereotypes communicated by
mass media. We call on women to make their stand for real and honest beauty."
So, do you think you're beautiful?
Log on to www.campaignforrealbeauty.ph to join the beauty debate.
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