Dove’s Short Film “Selfie” Redefines What Real Beauty is All About

A scene from the movie “Selfie” where women comment on what they like about their photos.

With more of us sharing “Selfies” pictures of ourselves, taken by ourselves on social media, the definition of how we can define ourselves and our appearance is changing.  Today, women have more control than ever about how they look.  We can literally position ourselves to best effect, using different filters on our portraits and even enhance our pictures, or simply take pictures of our best poses and smiles.

Women now create their own media and by doing so , their own images of  beauty.  Nine out of 10 women said via “Selfies” that they can finally celebrate their unique characteristics such as having a gap between the teeth, freckles or a scar. Many also believe that society has made great strides in being more accepting of different types of women, particularly of women of color (86%), appearances (72%), and ages (71%). In fact, with respect to age, 84% say women young and old inspire them to feel their best. While it is clear that progress has been made in widening the definition of beauty, a staggering two-thirds of women still believe more needs to be done.

Vogue’s cover presentation of Lena Dunham has stirred up controversy.

Ironically, as the controversy about Vogue airbrushing and slimming “Girls” star Lena Dunham’s cover portrait rages on , a new short film from Dove offers insight into what “real beauty’ is.  “Selfie” is well worth a look.  I really like this short film. It’s not a commercial for Dove.  Directed by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Cynthia Wade and produced by Sharon Liese, “Sefie” demonstrates how women have  the power to redefine what is beautiful in all of us.  Today more real people and bloggers who are not “professional models” are sharing their pictures on social media, helping to redefine the standard of what is beautiful.  No advertising agency, magazine or movie studio is filtering these images of women.  That’s powerful. According to Dove’s research, more than half (55%) of women believe social media is playing a larger role in influencing the beauty conversation than traditional media. 

“The way women are defining beauty today is changing dramatically, and social media has much to do with the change,” says filmmaker Cynthia Wade. “Now we have the ability to photograph the beauty we see in our friends and ourselves. When we share these diverse images on our social networks, we are taking personal ownership and truly redefining beauty.”

Take a minute to watch this film and you’ll be glad you did.  Just hit the play button below to view “Selfie.”  After you’ve seen it you can join the social media conversation on the film using hashtag #BeautyIS.  This movie is one of the best short videos I’ve seen and will go along way towards empowering women.

The message of “Selfie” is empowering.  Women can decide what is beauty and create their own definitions via social media posts. The facts speak toward the power of showing off your favorite “Selfie.” Dove’s new  study ( in the US)  shows that 62% of women feel they are responsible for influencing their own definition of beauty, nearly triple from the 23% ten years ago. This is the beauty of social media.