A Choice Between 'average' or 'beautiful'

The bar for women has been set unrealistically high by the role models people have today. The deck has been stacked against the modern woman. It was bad enough women used to see 17-year-old fashion models wearing $25,000 haute couture gowns in women's magazines. Now, thanks to Photoshop and other photo-editing software, photos may be manipulated to make their subjects look thinner or heavier, taller or shorter, bustier or flatter chested. Wrinkles can be magically erased and prized features, such as pronounced cheekbones, can be enhanced. The touch-up technician has become an essential part of every photo project.

Watch what happens when women are forced to choose between walking through doors marked 'average' or 'beautiful'... as it is revealed that 96 PER CENT of women rate themselves as average looking

Given the choice between 'average' and 'beautiful', which description would you choose for yourself?

That is the question that has been posed to women by Dove in a new survey, and the results are shocking.

83 per cent of Australian women rate themselves as average looking, the study found.

Of the 9,397 out of 11,000 that answered 'average', 84 per cent regularly have negative thoughts about their appearance.

While the statistics speak volumes about Australian women's perceptions of themselves, they appear more confident than the global average.

Just four per cent of women around the world describe themselves as beautiful - with a staggering 96 per cent choosing 'average'

Dove highlighted the survey results with a new video, released this week, that shows women being faced with the physical choice between beautiful and average.

Shot in five cities - Shanghai, San Francisco, London, Sao Paulo and Delhi - Dove erected signs above doors to public buildings and filmed women's actions when faced with having to walk through one or the other.

The vast majority of participants chose to walk through the 'average' door, demonstrating the survey results accurately.

Many said afterwards that they regretted their decision, and that it had affected how they felt about themselves.

'It was confronting to see these signs, and to have to choose, and be self concious of how you perceive yourself and if it lines up with how the rest of the world perceives you,' said an British woman.

'It was my choice, and now I will question myself for the next few weeks, maybe months.'

An American participant added: 'Am I choosing because of what is constantly bombarded at me and what I'm being told that I should accept? Or am I choosing because that's what I really believe?'

'Beautiful, to me, is too far out of reach,' a Chinese woman said, after choosing the average door.

The video is part of Dove's #ChooseBeautiful campaign, which aims to 'encourage women worldwide to reconsider the choices they make about their beauty and how those choices make them feel.'



source Daily Mail