I can say that I'm becoming more influence than I used to be. I'm almost 32 and I still get carded for buying cigarettes, so I know I look young. Still, I find myself spending 3X the amount of time in the bathroom every day than I did five years ago. I have hundreds of dollars of beauty products that are supposed to tighten, smooth, de-blotch, plump, lengthen, brighten, shine or whatever. When I walk out of the bathroom I'm not sure I look that much better, but I buy this stuff anyway.
At the same time I'm more comfortable now with my body than I ever have been. I'm really trying to enjoy the body I have right now because I know I'm not going to have it forever. I hope that when I don't I'll enjoy that too or it won't matter so much to me. Sure I'm not as tall as other women, I'm practically flat-chested, and my hair isn't the most beautiful color, and my skin isn't perfect, but I think I'm pretty enough. I don't think most of the women in the media look like that in real life either. If someone followed me around with photoshop and an airbrush (and could alter reality with those tools) I'd look great all the time too!
I have no idea what can be done. We could start buy not buying all these products, shutting down all the plastic surgeons, ignoring the hollywood culture, and shunning the fashion industry. BUT, this is America, we like this stuff and it isn't going to happen. Perhaps healthy ideas about ourselves should start in the home. Parents should teach kids about proper diet and exercise, tolerance of others and their differences, and acceptance of ourselves and our own uniqueness.
As a whole our society is getting more unhealthy. We in America are suffering from an epidemic of obesity and heart disease. It's no surprise that the beauty industry is taking off the way it is. We eat more and move less. We want to be able to eat our Big Macs and have a product that will take those pounds off for us. Now I know this isn't true of everyone, but it is a problem.
To me the beauty industry is a reflection of a bigger problem and a really sad one. We are selfish, shallow and gluttonous and I can't even be excluded from this. I buy into it all. I love my $1200 LaMer Creme. Why I need it I'm not sure. None of it really matters. It isn't that important. I'm just as sick as everyone else. I just don't know where it is taking us. I'll stop ranting now.
I have no idea if it's been posted here before, but from the same Dove campaign here's a video that I remember every time I don't feel as pretty as a model.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U