Forensic artist draws women how they see themselves and how others see them.

Contributor: bratcat bratcat
I watched an interesting video today on facebook and after watching deiced to take a deeper look into the story.
The UK branch of Dove hired forensic artist Gil Zamora, who has done 3,000 criminal sketches in his career, to interview and draw seven different women. He did two draws of each women: the first based on how they personally see themselves, and the second a drawing of the same women described by a stranger they had just met. The results turned out two vastly different drawings of the same women, placed side by side, to view. You can read more about it here.
I found this to be a very thought provoking experiment, and gave some thought to how (if i were to be part of this) i would described myself vs how i would describe an acquaintance. I would probably describe myself in a pretty good light, since i find my face to be one of my best atributes, while i know i would probably have more positive things about others.

How do you feel about this experiment? If ask, how do you think you would describe yourself vs how others may or how you would describe others? Do you think this video illustrates how the media portrays this idea of the "perfect women" and how it may affect how we view ourselves?
04/18/2013
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Contributor: Kitka Kitka
I saw this on Facebook a few days ago and loved it. It really shows how differently you view yourself as compared to others' opinions of your appearance.
04/18/2013
Contributor: TransMarc TransMarc
I want someone to do this for me. Could be interesting.
04/18/2013
Contributor: MrWill MrWill
I just want to point out for a moment: Dove paid for this. Dove, the same company that preaches about how beautiful every woman is.

Now... I'm not denying that every woman is beautiful, or that women often see themselves as looking worse than they do.. but, the conflict of interest with this project remains.
04/18/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Quote:
Originally posted by MrWill
I just want to point out for a moment: Dove paid for this. Dove, the same company that preaches about how beautiful every woman is.

Now... I'm not denying that every woman is beautiful, or that women often see themselves as looking worse ... more
I'm not 100% sure what you mean in your first statement.
Dove recently has been doing more to include all types of women in their campaigns (while still fairly whitewashed and have women, while "fat," have curves in all the right places) and show that beauty is a spectrum and there is no "right way" to be a women. While i acknowledge there are a few problematic things behind this may be, it's still a nice change that a company is actively trying to show women who are atypical and are often hidden in media.

I'm just going to pull a quote form the article which sums up my feelings about it pretty well, "they're actually empowering individual women to appreciate their inherent beauty, and in turn, allowing us all to wonder if we've been judging ourselves too harshly."
This is what i feel dove is trying to do with this project by having these photos set up side by side and then having the individual look at them. In the video you can see how these women are really reflecting on how they have critiqued themselves vs how others see them. I do believe that women are put under a lot of societal pressure to look a certain way, and while it may not always be on the forefront of our minds, i feel we subconsciously will bring ourselves down based on our appearance - and i feel this experiment illustrated that very well. To me, it's telling anyone who watches it to take a step back and think about how we see our appearance and why we feel this way (negative or positive) and what it says about ourselves.
04/18/2013
Contributor: MrWill MrWill
Quote:
Originally posted by bratcat
I'm not 100% sure what you mean in your first statement.
Dove recently has been doing more to include all types of women in their campaigns (while still fairly whitewashed and have women, while "fat," have curves in all the right ... more
What I mean is it is a paid marketing stunt. "We'll pay forensic artist Joe Blow to draw pictures of women the way they describe themselves, and then how they look. Next, we'll publicize it just enough for it to sound like it was a cool project, and get boat loads of publicity! Then, people will argue about it in forums and people will openly support us because we are amazing!"


Just saying, be careful of any art or media project with a big company behind it.
04/18/2013
Contributor: Sbmsvschoolgirl Sbmsvschoolgirl
That's pretty interesting, kind of makes me wonder what mine would look like.
04/18/2013
Contributor: PropertyOfPotter PropertyOfPotter
In my opinion, even if this wasn't a legitimate project that these women knew nothing about, even if it was simply a 'paid marketing stunt', I absolutely loved it! To me, it was very thought provoking and I instantly found myself considering how much I do this myself, and how unnecessary it is. Whether it was done as they're claiming it was or not, I don't care. The idea was beautiful in itself and was a great way to get women to take a moment to think about themselves in the same way. Thank you for sharing this, I really enjoyed it!
04/18/2013
Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7 Lildrummrgurl7
I'm with PropertyOfPotter on this one. Yes, I realize this was paid for by Dove so they clearly had some motive and a vested interest in this turning out this way. Regardless, I don't doubt that those women described themselves more harshly than a stranger would. The message is still the same. Women are more beautiful than they think they are.
04/18/2013
Contributor: ShadowedSeductress ShadowedSeductress
I think it was a great idea, I just saw it last night. I think it's true, we judge ourselves to harshly. Yes, I'm sure others can see our flaws. I also feel they can see what's beautiful when we fail to. Paid stunt or not, I loved the fact that it has obviously (as said here by some contributors) made us question how much we judge ourselves.
04/18/2013
Contributor: indiglo indiglo
Quote:
Originally posted by PropertyOfPotter
In my opinion, even if this wasn't a legitimate project that these women knew nothing about, even if it was simply a 'paid marketing stunt', I absolutely loved it! To me, it was very thought provoking and I instantly found myself ... more
I ditto this statement.

Thanks for sharing it, I'm glad I watched it. This is something I'm going to continue thinking about for a while.
04/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
I was not in the least surprised by the results, yet it was as compelling to me as this topic always is. I think this will resonate with most women, regardless of experimental method & perceived conflicts of interest. Thank you for posting this.

I hate to say it, but there is a parody of this, but as if they tried it with men: link It's so damn funny, please watch it!

"Men. You're less beautiful than you think."
04/18/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Quote:
Originally posted by MrWill
What I mean is it is a paid marketing stunt. "We'll pay forensic artist Joe Blow to draw pictures of women the way they describe themselves, and then how they look. Next, we'll publicize it just enough for it to sound like it was a cool ... more
Alright, that makes more sense to me (i have a learning disability, so i often need material to be straight forward for me to understand the intended message). However, i'm sure if this experiment was redone as a private study, the results would likely be the same.
And even though Dove is a big name brand industry, they do much better than other companies in the way the represent women (although at times still problematic) and show that beauty is on a spectrum.
I agree with a lot of contributors - while i realized this was a paid advertisement that obviously had some motive to it, it was still very thought provoking. i think the experiment will/dose make people take the time to think about how we may view ourselves vs how others may see us, and make those who watch question the reasons why they may feel this-or-that way about their appearance.
04/18/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Quote:
Originally posted by Wicked Wahine
I was not in the least surprised by the results, yet it was as compelling to me as this topic always is. I think this will resonate with most women, regardless of experimental method & perceived conflicts of interest. Thank you for posting ... more
HA! Wahine this parody is great! While there has recently been an uprise in eating disorders among men which may speak to the media/society's beauty standards, it's not nearly as remarkable the rate in which ED's are seen among women and young girls. i for sure enough guys who think of themselves this way, i should send them this video.
04/18/2013
Contributor: evie.amor evie.amor
Very interesting! That parody is too funny! I honestly would hate to describe myself..
04/18/2013
Contributor: indiglo indiglo
That parody was hilarious!! There are so many differences between men and women.
04/19/2013
Contributor: sunflower sunflower
OMG that parody video I was laughing my ass off. Thank you for linking me to that, I'm going to send it to a few people
04/19/2013
Contributor: eri86 eri86
I'm in awe of sketch artists. That they can draw someone based off a description alone is nuts!

Even if I did describe myself in a completely positive light, I find it hard to imagine that the image would look anything like me.
04/19/2013
Contributor: js250 js250
Actually, there was a study in the early 1980's that was NOT sponsored by anyone, but rather done at some institute...wish I could remember the details!!...that was the same as this one you are talking about. Our perception of our looks and the reality of what we look like are completely different. We tend to see ourselves as how we think or should look based on skewed perceptions of our aging, features and what we are told. Others look at us and see their perception of what we look like based on their personal preferences.

Anyone remember who did that study?????
04/19/2013
Contributor: TransMarc TransMarc
Quote:
Originally posted by MrWill
What I mean is it is a paid marketing stunt. "We'll pay forensic artist Joe Blow to draw pictures of women the way they describe themselves, and then how they look. Next, we'll publicize it just enough for it to sound like it was a cool ... more
And so? What's the problem? In your first post, you make it sound as if it was hypocritical or contradictory to do that while also having other ads saying every woman is beautiful, but it's just reinforcing their previous message saying: you are more beautiful than you think you are. Obviously they need to and are here to sell stuffs and make money.
Honestly, I think these campaigns make them go backward, because when I think of them I don't think about soap but about these and the other ads, so it doesn't come to my mind to buy their soap and stuffs since for me they don't make soap anymore. It's too far away from the perception I had of them before. Still, it can work for others, and actually get them to sell more.
04/19/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Thanks everyone for the feedback on this thread! I'm happy to see for a lot of you this was very thought provoking experiment and has maybe challenged some of you to look at how you view yourselves and why that is.
Can't wait to hear from more of you about your thoughts!
04/19/2013
Contributor: SneakersAndPearls SneakersAndPearls
I am going to say this very clearly and carefully: Dove is full of crap. I don't mean that we shouldn't consider everyone is beautiful (we should), or that the beauty industry doesn't need a revamp (it does). But consider this: Dove's parent company is Unilever, which also makes Axe body products (have you even seen the women in the commercials?), Slimfast, and --now pay attention-- Fair and Lovely, which is a skin lightening cream sold in places where it is completely normal for women to have darker skin and lighter skin is considered more attractive.

But don't worry. I'm sure they really want YOU to feel beautiful. In short, they want you to think they are some sort of benevolent, progressive company so you'll buy more product out of respect for their supposed position.
04/24/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Quote:
Originally posted by SneakersAndPearls
I am going to say this very clearly and carefully: Dove is full of crap. I don't mean that we shouldn't consider everyone is beautiful (we should), or that the beauty industry doesn't need a revamp (it does). But consider this: ... more
I just actually learned about this recently, obviously after writing up this post, but as any company they are out to sell a product which i have acknowledged. However the company was not the focus of this post, ever, and i wish people would realize that before trying to derail the conversation and fixate on why Dove is a horrible company.

The whole point of this post was for people to reflect on how we see ourselves, and to think about why that is.

I literally do not care what company planned or give money to this experiment, only about the experiment itself, weather it was a planned marketing scheme or not. I don't support any of those companies and their products, as a personal choice, i do like that the dove campaign dose show a variety of women in their ad's because i feel the more media acceptance of all bodies is important to the development of young people and how we see ourselves. But like i said it's still done in a very problematic way, and being owned by Unilever only adds to the problem, however the "love yourself/body" campaign by dove is still an important one. It doesn't mean you have to support that company or buy their products but it's important to note that campaigns like such are valuable to the growth of our society.
04/24/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Quote:
Originally posted by bratcat
I just actually learned about this recently, obviously after writing up this post, but as any company they are out to sell a product which i have acknowledged. However the company was not the focus of this post, ever, and i wish people would realize ... more
Well said, bratcat! I think more people understand what you were aiming for with this discussion, than not. I was even worried about distracting from the thread by posting that men's version link. I'm glad that didn't tick you off
04/24/2013
Contributor: peachmarie peachmarie
Omg I started crying through the movie, it's true women (and men) often have such a harsh view of themselves and it was so interesting to see the different pictures, I would have liked to have seen all of them. I always wonder how I am perceived through other peoples eyes. I just thought it was sweet how kind and honest the strangers were, I think a lot of the time women feel judged by other women and men, that all of their flaws are on spotlight to others, but really we are our hardest judges. I really love dove and the campaigns it runs, they are so good for women.
04/24/2013
Contributor: peachmarie peachmarie
Quote:
Originally posted by MrWill
I just want to point out for a moment: Dove paid for this. Dove, the same company that preaches about how beautiful every woman is.

Now... I'm not denying that every woman is beautiful, or that women often see themselves as looking worse ... more
I don't see it as a conflict of interest, dove is trying to say that women need to see themselves as others see them and not be so harsh on themselves, that not everyone is judging them and that the things that they perceive others to think about them are not true. They want women to feel empowered and beautiful and seeing something like this would really be a wake up call to them. I thought that it was brilliant.
04/24/2013
Contributor: peachmarie peachmarie
Quote:
Originally posted by Wicked Wahine
I was not in the least surprised by the results, yet it was as compelling to me as this topic always is. I think this will resonate with most women, regardless of experimental method & perceived conflicts of interest. Thank you for posting ... more
That was hilarious. my favorite was when she described the guy as having "rapey eyes" or the one who "couldn't remember if he had eyebrows"
04/24/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Quote:
Originally posted by peachmarie
Omg I started crying through the movie, it's true women (and men) often have such a harsh view of themselves and it was so interesting to see the different pictures, I would have liked to have seen all of them. I always wonder how I am perceived ... more
Very good point! There is this big media focus that a woman's biggest enemy is other women (and men) when it comes to how we judge ones appearance, but the reality seems to be that we tend to judge ourselves more harshly when it comes to our appearance than others may/do.
04/24/2013
Contributor: KrissyNovacaine KrissyNovacaine
While this is obviously a marketing stunt, I think that the powerful message I heard was women were constantly comparing themselves to others. That's a huge problem. I admit freely that I do it and it is the biggest blow to my self esteem.
04/24/2013
Contributor: chicmichiw chicmichiw
I saw this! It is pretty interesting. I know it MUST be a stunt on Dove's part, yet...it's still feels fairly sincere.
04/24/2013