Sarah Haskins is my hero: check out this hilarious Target Women segment:
Last October, I wrote a post unmasking Dove’s corporate hypocrisy and cynicism.
Today, I discovered yet another example of duplicity, this time from Mattel & Barbie dolls.
Watch this video:
And then this one:
Discuss.
From Arabianbusiness.com : “Middle East beauty industry to hit $2.9bn in 2009″
Excerpt:
According to official statistics, the sales of cosmetics and perfumes across the Middle East touched $2.1 billion last year.
The sector enjoys the highest per capita consumption in the region with an average purchase of around $334 (AED1,227) per person.
The largest market is Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth more than AED7.3 billion, while the industry is expected to exceed AED3.3billion in the UAE by the end of next year, according to EPOC Messe Frankfurt, organisers of the Beauty World Middle East.
UAE = United Arab Emirates.
It’s too bad that the article does not mention specifics about best selling products. A close friend, who is now living in Dubai, tells me about the incredible popularity of skin whitening creams – perceived to give darker skinned women a boost in their careers and love life, just like in India.
Also, plastic surgery is rampant in the Middle East, amongst wealthy, upper crust women: the most popular procedure? Rhinoplasty (nose jobs) to give them a more “Western” appearance. Botox and liposuction are also on high demand.
Watch the commercial from Fair & Lovely for their Middle Eastern market:
(Remember: Fair & Lovely is owned by Unilever, the parent company of Dove and its “Real Beauty” products. For more on Dove’s hypocrisy and duplicity, check out this older post.)
From Denmark, here is an ad/featurette promoting a web site selling discounted surplus merchandise (in short: a Danish overstock.com)
It has to be one of the most degrading, objectifying ads I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
Oh and it is MOST DEFINITELY NSFW (lots of silicone-enhanced breasts on display).
via PlanetWaves.
via the blog “Center and Periphery” – whose author wrote a really insightful post about women and aging. Check it out here: “The Maturing of a Woman Is a Beautiful Thing to Behold.“
*Dictionary definition of awesome:
extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear : the awesome power of the atomic bomb.
CHAPTER 1 – OH SO ELOQUENT : Was Talking Barbie modeled after a Rhodes scholar? Find out!
CHAPTER 2 – ASPIRATIONS : The outcome of 10 years of medical school
CHAPTER 3 – BREASTS : Because every 5 year old dreams of growing breasts overnight
This is not a commercial, actually, but rather a YouTube video showing the features of “Growing Up Skipper”
And now my poor eyes need a rest…
Barbie : My Scene doesn’t leave you much choice.
At least in 1985 Barbie wanted to be a disco-dancing astronaut:
You’ve come a long way, Barbie!
Speaking of onslaught (see yesterday’s post): the spring issue of Ms. Magazine carried a powerful article by Caroline Heldman on self-objectification:
A steady diet of exploitative, sexually provocative depictions of women feeds a poisonous trend in women’s and girl’s perceptions of their bodies, one that has recently been recognized by social scientists as self-objectification—viewing one’s body as a sex object to be consumed by the male gaze. Like W.E.B. DuBois’ famous description of the experience of black Americans, self-objectification is a state of “double consciousness … a sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others.”
Read more here.
Dove Onslaught
Dove Onslaught(er)