Dove on Tuesday pledged to no longer use artificial intelligence-generated models in its advertising, saying it was the first beauty brand to do so. By announcing this policy, the company may be helping to forestall further changes in society's beauty standards, which are already harmful to women. But this campaign does not address the fundamental problem: that in our society, women are not judged or valued at all by their appearance.
In its ad, Dove showed how asking AI to generate images of “gorgeous women” or “perfect skin” results in extremely unrealistic images. Therefore, the fact that the company does not use them in advertising is clearly a positive development. This is especially important because many of the images of women we see on social media already set unattainable standards.
As I write in my new book, Beyond Influence: Why Social Media Is Harmful to Women and Girls – and How to Take It Back, the so-called “Instagram body” is typically achieved only through surgery. It can be achieved. But it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the images we see on apps are often heavily filtered. One physical therapist I interviewed for this book said she developed an eating disorder on Instagram as a teenager, but her clients regularly show her photos from social media. She said she has told her that she wants to do the same with her body.
Considering the situations women already face on social networks, we don't need more unrealistic standards set by images of non-human bodies. This is why other brands should follow Dove's lead and pledge not to use AI-generated models.
But the Dubs still have a lot of work to do. The company says it is putting beauty standards in the hands of human women. That is wonderful. And it's perhaps inevitable that companies that make beauty products will focus on how people look. But perhaps a healthier message to send to women and girls is that they shouldn't judge themselves or others based on appearance in the first place.
Women spend much more time improving their appearance than men. On the other hand, we are unable to do more important things, such as getting votes or developing friendships that are essential to our health. And when women aren't perceived as attractive, they often perform lower in school, perform worse in their careers, and have more difficulty finding romantic partners. Men deemed unattractive receive much lighter punishments.
The solution, of course, is to stop judging people by their appearance.In her just released book Eliminate shrinking: How to face fatphobiaCornell University philosopher Kate Mann explains how she taught this lesson to her daughter.
“I opened Instagram on my phone and showed my daughter's body,” she wrote. “I showed her the bodies of fat bodies, black and brown bodies, trans bodies, disabled people and people with different skin, limbs, faces…I showed her not through the lens of judgment. Showed other people's bodies that are not seen as such.It is a general positive evaluation, even with respect and kindness, and the recognition that they exist among us in this world. I am grateful and happy for that.”
This is clearly a message that many women need to learn for themselves. Nearly 40% of women would give up a year of their lives to achieve their desired body shape or appearance, according to a report from Dove and global news agency Edelman.
It's great that Dove is working to ensure that our society's already unrealistic beauty standards don't become even more unattainable thanks to AI. Other brands should soon follow suit. But this campaign doesn't counteract the more insidious message society sends to women: that our worth is wrapped up in our appearance.