Ancient history suggests that Indian beauty standards were way different than they seem today. Some researchers even believe they were quite the opposite of the current ones. Back in those times, there was more emphasis on inner beauty than a woman’s physical features.
Research says that 90% of single women in India feel they are judged based on their looks. Dove dug a little deeper into this predicament and discovered that 3 out of 4 Indian women are rejected for their looks during the arranged marriage process. And yes! Arranged marriage is still a pretty common practice in India.
This stigmatised behaviour is what Dove is trying to eradicate from society with their #StopTheBeautyTest campaign. The campaign sheds light on the unrealistic beauty standards women are subjected to. Dove is trying to sell to the whole world, not just India, that “beauty is skin deep.” The expression refers to the fact that beauty is far more profound than a sensory experience and goes beyond what is only visible to the eye.
However, all things considered, Dove is owned by Unilever. They are also infamous for being the parent company of a problematic and regressive brand called “Glow and Lovely,” which was earlier known as “Fair & Lovely.” And as clearly as its last name suggests, it has long been accused of fostering an obsession with fair skin complexion in Indians.
This sheds light on the trap that is neoliberalism. What is neoliberalism? It’s a philosophy or way of thinking about the economy that highlights how, in a free society, less regulation, less expenditure, and less taxation by the government, along with less tight control over the economy, can lead to better economic and social progress. In simple words, it basically promotes privatisation over government intervention. Big monopolies like Unilever have capitalised on these neoliberal ideologies of society. On the one hand, their market domination allows them to have a brand like Dove that propagates beauty for all and tries to eliminate societal beauty norms. But on the other hand, own a brand like “Glow & Lovely” (Fair & Lovely) that falsely claims to make one’s skin fairer and therefore upholds these unrealistic expectations of standards of beauty. All under one roof.
All of this makes me question the integrity of the whole ad campaign. Does Dove India really believe in the narrative of “You are beautiful the way you are,” or is it just another marketing gimmick? What do you all think?
Empowerment has been discovered as “a new ground for the expansion of neoliberal practices” (Banet-Weiser, 2012, 45). This statement by Sarah Banet-Weiser makes so much sense when you look at the case of Unilever. The newest field that has been colonised in order to make money is empowerment. Through Dove they try to sell you empowerment, but through “Glow and Lovely,” they sell you conventional beauty standards. This is just proof that big corporations, ultimately, are blinded by capitalism and only care about driving consumerism.
Dove India has an entirely different portrayal than the other brand mentioned above. Both are owned by Unilever and are competing in the same market. These examples show how companies build on insecurities to sell beauty products. The central principle of this article is to advertise the dichotomy of these nefarious conglomerates.