Are women their own worst critic?

Lately I have been doing a lot of posts regarding self confidence and body image. This may be because I have been doing a lot of self evaluating lately and trying to come to terms with and appreciate who I am and what I have to offer the world. During my little scavenger hunt over the web, I found an old Dove commercial from 2013 that fits this week's common theme.
This commercial, not surprisingly, got sucked into a lot of controversy over its main "goal" which was to make women realize that they are their own worst critic and they need to appreciate themselves more. The problem with this is while it may have good intentions, it kind of misses the mark. Telling women they are critiquing themselves instead of the media telling them their appearance is off par doesn't make a person feel any better. I think this commercial does a lot of things right. The music is sentimental, the camera angles are great and they capture some really emotional moments for the women in this "experiment" (real or not) they seemed really moved by this experience. It actually makes me curious how a person would describe me to a sketch artist and what features they would pick to stand out.
The downside to this commercial in my opinion is that they paint the first picture drawn in a bad light, making it seem as if it's less attractive than the second, which isn't necessarily true. Also this video does a slim job in the diversity category. Most of the participants shown are caucasian and thin with blonde hair and blue eyes. This commercials idea of a "real beautiful women" is what most people see when they open the magazines that make them hate themselves in the first place. And of course those girls have insecurities too, but it almost defeats the message. If the aim of this ad is to make everyone realize their true beauty, then why are we only focusing on a small branch of the huge tree that is the diverse population of women all over the world?
At the end of the day, while this commercial may be moving to some, it could also be discouraging to others. Women can be their worst critic, but we can also be our best friend.

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