Dove has been down this road before. Previously, they ran some ads with chubby ladies in underwear talking about how much they loved their bodies. I found those ads powerfully patronizing, as I find the "Beauty Sketches." It is as though women need to have their emotions managed and protected all the time.
As I clicked the link and started watching the video, I started to feel a slight sense of discomfort. The message that we constantly receive is that girls are not valuable without beauty. My primary problem with this Dove ad is that it's not really challenging the message -- it just makes us feel like it is. It doesn't really tell us that the definition of beauty is broader than we have been trained to think it is. Don't let your happiness be dependent on something so fickle and cruel and trivial. You should feel beautiful, and Dove was right about one thing: you are more beautiful than you know. But please, please hear me: you are so, so much more than beautiful.
I initially connected with Jennifer Ettinger through Facebook some time ago and was intrigued by her work that focuses on helping women find their inner beauty. Ettinger's drive stems from her struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and having been bedridden and overweight. Today, she is the founder of Fit Your Style.