Real Beauty vs. a real asshole

There's been a bit of discussion in the blogitat about the (semi) new Dove ad campaign, the "Campaign for Real Beauty." The idea is, they take "real women" (i.e., not professional models) and feature them in their ads. The commercials, billboards, and ads feature a much wider range of body types than you'd ever find in a traditional cosmetic campaign, and - as others have noted - one of the nicest things about the ads is how happy the women seem with their own bodies. I first blogged about this back in February, and my take now is pretty much the same as it was then: yeah, it's an ad campaign, and they're out to make a buck, but it's still a pretty damn cool idea. I hadn't heard much about any negative responses until I looked at Ms. Musings this morning, and found this really delightful quote from Richard "I'm no Gene Siskel" Roeper:

Chunky women in their underwear have surrounded my house.

Billboards of chunky women, that is. If you've been downtown lately, you've no doubt noticed the ads for Dove soap, featuring regular-sized women in bras and panties. It's part of a nationwide "Campaign for Real Beauty," and it's drawing waves of attention from the media.

There's no doubt the ads are attention-getting. Let's put it this way: this is the first time in 3,000-plus columns that I've ever mentioned Dove soap.

Now here's where I'm supposed to say that I find it refreshing to see "real people" on billboards, given that our culture is so obsessed with youth and beauty, and that most billboards feature impossibly gorgeous, ridiculously thin women who have been airbrushed to a level of perfection that 99.9 percent of the population can never reach.

But the raw truth is, I find these Dove ads a little unsettling. If I want to see plump gals baring too much skin, I'll go to Taste of Chicago, OK? I'll walk down Michigan Avenue or go to Navy Pier. When we're talking women in their underwear on billboards outside my living room windows, give me the fantasy babes, please.

If that makes me sound superficial, shallow and sexist -- well yes, I'm a man. And I'll have to point out that most of the men who appear on billboards and in magazines and on TV commercials are just as genetically blessed as their female counterparts.

Boy. Where do you start with a guy like this? I mean, are we supposed to find his "honesty" refreshing? First, take a look at the "chunky" women he's so disturbed by:

OK, they're not as anorexic-looking as your average supermodel, but people, please: these are not heavy women. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And look at them! They're gorgeous, healthy, sassy, happy women! Have we really reached a point in our culture where we can't see that? Equally offensive is Roeper's attempt to portray all men as shallow and sexist as he is. Offensive not because it's true, but because for a minute, it did make me think: is this what all men are thinking when they see a real woman's body? Are even my progressive male buddies just telling me what I want to hear? Fortunately, I was only derailed for a moment. But fuck you, Roeper, for even making me doubt my friends for that long. Real men don't need to rely on "fantasy babes" to get it off. Dove, you keep on rockin' with the real women.