The power of keeping your mouth shut........



Lots of problems.........first of all its always good to keep your mouth shut...........Always ........it should just sink in a bit more.......

Situation-In a communication class talking about the Dove Real Women's campaign. This campaign is Dove's CSR initiative. They have normal women/ girls who are really gorgeous talking about stuff they don't like about themselves, from their body type, to their glasses, to the colour of their hair. ( See the video above)

Huge Debate going on in class about whether this campaign would work in India. The women are saying that it would absolutely not work.

Now let me tell you that everyone in that class is the same demographic that the company is targetting. Premuim segment, well educated, exposed to a lot of media etc.I am hearing shit statements like " Indian women are really confident"

"The company will not be seen as genuine", "Whatever you say to an Indian woman she still thinks she's beautiful ( this gem was shared with us by Mr. P~ no you a*hole we understand english)

At a badly timed moment I said" I would like to ask the women in the class if there is any one who doesnt kno any lady who has never had image issues" ~

(and trust me 5 mins back we were talking about the "Fair and Lovely campaign" ~ India has a best selling product in the market that sells fairness to a predominantly dark population of Indian women.

THERE is an image issue staring you right in the face!!!!!!!!!)

I was so angry at the stuff that they were saying that all I could come up with was ~ this country has a huge amount of image issues! ( forgot to add that this campaign would bring these to the forefront ) So what if it doesnt show the brand anywhere its freaking CSR right?



There is nothing real anymore .......Its all made up in the magazines right? But if some of your closest friends put their finger down their throat and puke their food out/has had plastic surgery etc. Then it is not something that just happens in America. Ok its a given America is a far more screwed up place ( ably pointed out by my colleagues) and yes I can count the women on my hand who are affected by this in India. But do you have a friend who's constantly obsessing about the way she looks? And if we all have friends that's plenty of people right?



I've had people who tell me that I should not be wearing my glasses, obviously cause they don't look nice! And the whole weight thing........OMG........I can see that Indian women are really uncomfortable about talking about image issues in a classroom setup but let me tell you among their friends they are vicious.......I have had close friends struggling with their weight issues..........Ive watched 2 of my friends competing to put each other down because of this.........Ive had adults stop me and tell me ............you have lost so much weight.........Dont loose anymore you will look really bad!!!!!!I have dark cousins who cant get married! There issues all around me if I choose to look!!!We hide too many things in this country.



I look at magazines too you know........we dont have stick thin models here ( Hallelujah!!!!!).........but dont you come and tell me that these issues do not exist. I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and see things that I would love to change.......something that I never ever thought of before.........atleast Im older and can rationalise things. But if the media is getting socially responsible then Im all for it. Because tommrrow I want my 9 year old daughter to know that she is perfect just the way she is. Its caused so much debate around the world and now their debating whether to introduce it in India. Introduce it I say , just put in Indian faces.........so when we are talking about women with image issues we should know they exist in our country too!!!!



This seems to be a recurring theme for me......Im sorry if I vented too much.......just having a bad day.....