How Cosmetics Retailers Are Using Feminism as Their Ad Campaign

A global study that examines perceptions of female beauty is mired in murkiness. The Quint investigates.

The tyranny of unrealistic beauty standards as propagated by the media is a well-established fact in today’s world. When corporations like Dove start running campaigns about body-positiveness, you know the idea has gone mainstream.

The latest piece of activism doing the digital rounds is the ‘Perceptions of Perfection’ study. The study provided female designers in eighteen countries with the photo of a model and asked them to Photoshop the image according to what they think their culture’s idea of desirable feminine beauty is.

“Why female designers?”, you might reasonably ask. We’ll let the organisation answer that one:

We focused on female designers, as we wanted a woman’s view of what her culture finds attractive and to understand more about the pressures they face. However, in order to get entries from more countries, we accepted contributions from four men with the caveat that they first seek input from women and base their design changes on this feedback.

From hair colour to waist size to bust measurement to thigh gap to underwear, there seems to be no aspect of femininity that the world does not have a considered opinion on.

Let’s check in with other nations.

The study’s goal, according to its authors, was “to better understand potentially unrealistic standards of beauty and to see how such pressures vary around the world.”

The study then ran a brief survey (with a tiny 35-person sample-size) where they asked participants to guess the weight of each of these women. Based on the average weight data, they calculated her BMI.

But what now? We pat ourselves on the back for uncovering the cultural oppression of women that gives rise to anorexia, bulimia or general body-image issues, call it a day, put down our feminist placards and go home? The study itself concludes on a strangely insipid note:

While beauty can come in many forms, and we suspect that people will forever chase these assorted ideals of perfection, Superdrug Online Doctor commissioned this study to explore how such ideals vary across borders.

The survey could be forgiven for its superficiality, its dodgy survey methodology, its propagation of stereotypes and even its, frankly amateurish, Photoshop skills. However, that is only the tip of this progressive-seeming iceberg.

Superdrug Online Doctor, the organisation that sponsored the study, offers the benefits of medical assistance without the hassle of having to actually physically meet the doctor. They promise to save prospective patients ‘time and embarrassment’ and assure ‘complete confidentiality’. And here’s the kicker: One of these super-embarrassing medical quandaries they provide assistance with is weight loss.

Further sleuthing, by which we mean clicking on their Twitter link, leads us to this wonderland:

Superdrug describes itself as ‘the official profile for Britain’s most fashion conscious beauty and health retailer.’ Their vast range of cosmetic products promises you the world – or flawless skin, which is close enough.

So, to recap, a study that aims to generate visibility for the pressures that unrealistic beauty standards put on women is sponsored by a for-profit corporation that operates in the beauty and fashion industry – an industry that feeds off, and perpetuates women’s insecurities.

We’ll leave you now to savour the irony.