Would you call yourself beautiful? Do you even see yourself as beautiful? These questions had never really crossed my mind until my mom sent me a video a few weeks ago that really made me stop and think. It was a campaign for Dove. The commercial shows several women, from a range of all different ages and ethnicities, faced with a choice: to walk through two different doors. One door is labeled "beautiful," the other "average."
The women had no instructions; they just had the option to walk through either door. There was a different reaction from each individual. A couple of women didn't even hesitate to walk through the average door, others thought for a moment and then went through the average door, and a few very hesitantly walked through the beautiful door. Later, when interviewed, the women who went through the average door said they retracted their decision and wished they had gone through the beautiful door, and other women admitted that they didn't feel good going through the "average" door. As the video goes on, more and more women decide to go through the door labeled "beautiful." The mood of the video changes from sullen to hopeful, and the women's attitudes change too.
This video brought me to tears the first time I watched it. It made me sad because I thought that if I was faced with the option, my first instinct would be the average door, and I don't think I would even hesitate. That thought really upset me. I started to read comments on the video and many women asked other women what they would choose. To no surprise almost everyone said they would choose average. But why? Why would we judge ourselves so harshly? Dove's message is all about "choosing beautiful." After watching, I decided that I am going to choose beautiful. I am going to think of myself as beautiful and tell myself that every day.
When I watched the video I thought to myself how every single woman in the video was beautiful and should have absolutely walked through the beautiful door with no hesitation. If I thought that about other people, I should most definitely think that about myself, and so should every woman. We are all beautiful. We are all unique. We are not average. This video has inspired me to look at myself in a new light, a new beautiful light. I choose beautiful. I am beautiful. So are my friends, and my mom, and her friends. And so are you. So from now on, let's all choose beautiful and let's all walk through that door. I challenge anyone reading this piece to choose beautiful and to spread the word by telling yourself you are beautiful every single day. Choose beautiful in everything you do, because you really are beautiful.
