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The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty

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The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty yields significant insights into the hearts and minds of women across the country. The first revelation being that the very subject of beauty contains inherent contradictions. Beauty oppresses, yet it can liberate. It’s a rare commodity, yet it is universal. Women feel beautiful when they dress up, and when they are physically active. However, among the contradictions there is consensus.

Feeling Positive

Are all women in search of beauty? In a society that seemingly values physical perfection, and the labor behind achieving that sometimes unattainable goal, this new groundbreaking study uncovers that American women are surprisingly satisfied with their looks. The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty reveals that the majority of women (90%) in the United States consider their looks average or above. In fact, nearly half of women (44%) are more comfortable with their looks today than they were 10 years ago.

Contrary to media messages that seem to indicate that women are striving to look like someone other than themselves, only 7% say they do not like how they look. This means that for every woman who is not happy with how she looks, there are eight who are happy with their looks.

This feeling of satisfaction is even stronger in subgroups, such as African-American and Hispanic women, younger women, and wealthier women, who have even more positive feelings about their looks than Caucasian women.

Fifty-two percent of women between the ages of 18 and 39 said that “looking beautiful” describes them very well, while only 37% of women ages 40 and older feel the same. It is not surprising that money also affects how women feel about their looks.

Wealthier women, those with yearly household incomes above $100K, are more likely to consider themselves good-looking or beautiful in comparison with other women: 57% of them consider their looks above average, versus 34% for women with yearly household incomes of less than $100K.

Additionally, there are differences in how women feel about their faces compared to their bodies. For instance, there is a noticeable difference when women describe themselves as being “very satisfied” with their faces (42%) versus being “very satisfied” with their bodies (22%). However, the gap narrows when “somewhat satisfied” is included – with 88% describing themselves as “somewhat” to “very satisfied” with their faces, and 76% who are “somewhat” to “very satisfied” with their bodies. Given these results, it’s not surprising that only one quarter of the women interviewed have considered cosmetic surgery, or are currently dieting to lose weight.

Claiming “Looks” Not “Beauty”

In spite of the surprisingly high level of satisfaction with their looks, women seem to have trouble claiming beauty for themselves. They are more comfortable comparing their looks favorably with other women than they are rating themselves as beautiful in comparison with other women. In fact, 41% of women are uncomfortable talking about how they rate their own physical beauty. Additionally, while one-third (36%) of women say their “looks” are above average, only half as many (18%) say their “beauty” is above average.

This pattern of aversion to the word and concept of beauty holds true across all ethnicities, despite findings that show African-American and Hispanic women rate both their looks and their beauty much higher than Caucasian women.

In fact, 39% of women find it easier to talk about money – usually a topic that is taboo – than their own beauty.

Redefining Beauty

According to the study findings, beauty encompasses more than physical traits with nearly half (44%) of women saying they do not agree that beauty is something a woman is born with. So then, what is beauty? Women are redefining beauty and what it means to be beautiful. The concept of “beauty” as it relates to an inherent physical trait seems to be obsolete. Rather, women claim situations and experiences enable them to feel beautiful.

In fact, 59% of women say that beauty “changes over time” because beauty is connected to certain situations and life moments. Nearly three-quarters (73%) also agree that beauty can be achieved through attitude, spirit and attributes that have nothing to do with genetically-inherited physical traits.

When asked to rate the importance of various life values on a scale of 1 to 10, women consistently rated relationships (love, marriage, friendship, spirituality) as most important and beauty (feeling attractive, feeling beautiful, dressing well, etc.) as least important. In addition to being the most important life value, relationships are the key source for feeling beautiful.

Nearly three-quarters of women (70%) report they feel most beautiful when they feel loved. Women also said they feel beautiful when their husband/significant other:

Looks at them admiringly (68%)
Does something special for them (65%)
Goes out with them for a special occasion (64%)

Spirituality also plays a key role in helping women feel beautiful. Seventy-five percent of women agree that beauty comes from a woman’s spirit and love of life, not from her looks. Additionally, more than half of women (61%) say they have an active spiritual or religious life, and 42% said that one of the times they feel most beautiful is when they attend a religious service.

The study showed that women feel beautiful when they are fully engaged in meaningful life activities. More than half of women say they feel beautiful when they help others (54%); spend time with their children (53%); achieve success (46%); are physically active (46%); do something artistic (39%); enjoy a hobby (39%); or dance (35%).

Surprisingly, activities that are directly related to beauty, such as shopping for beauty care products (21%) and looking at fashion magazines (17%), were less likely to make women feel beautiful.

Owning Beauty

The study indicates that American women believe beauty is multi-dimensional and women want a more democratic view of beauty that strives toward widening the definition of beauty that exists today. Only 26% feel that women’s beauty is evaluated according to reasonable standards in our society.

When asked to agree or disagree with 49 statements about beauty on a scale of 1 to 10, at least three out of four women agreed very strongly with statements espousing an all-inclusive, democratic view of beauty. Findings show women agreed most strongly with the statements that “a woman can look beautiful at any age” (87%) and “every woman has something about her that is beautiful” (81%).

The study confirms that when it comes to beauty, women feel challenged by societal influences. The majority of women (78%) believe they are judged more harshly on their physical appearance than men. Moreover, 71% said they wish the media and advertising industry could appreciate the different physical types of women as beautiful.

An even higher number (79%) wish a woman could be considered beautiful even if she is not “physically perfect.” The findings clearly indicate that women are ready for a new definition of beauty that celebrates real types of women rather than stereotypes.

Download The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty

PDF format, 2.5MB, 25Pages.

The results may surprise you. Read the entire Dove Report for a look at the genuine opinions about beauty that exists in America today.

Table of Contents
A Letter from Dove........................................................................................2
The Research Process....................................................................................3
Methodology.................................................................................................4
Executive Summary.......................................................................................6
Detailed Findings...........................................................................................10
The Dove Report Advisory Board Essays......................................................15

Toni C. Antonucci – University of Michigan
Mary Lisa Gavenas – Author; Former Beauty Editor
Pam Reid – University of Michigan
Wendy Steiner – University of Pennsylvania
Naomi Wolf – The Woodhull Institute

The Dove Report Advisory Board.....................................................................23
The Downing Street Group, LLC/The University of Michigan...............................25

Visit The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty Website

The Dove Report Advisory Board Essays

The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty Advisory Board is comprised of five notable authors, educators and social critics. Each expert brings unique insight and diverse professional experience; their unique credentials impart distinct opinions on the outcome of the research. Each of the following women has provided an exclusive perspective on the study and what the results suggest for the future of women and the beauty industry.

Dr. Toni C. Antonucci - Professor of psychology, research scientist and program director, Life Course Developmental Program, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan
Mary Lisa Gavenas - Author and beauty industry expert
Dr. Pamela Trotman Reid - Professor of education, Women’s Studies and Psychology, University of Michigan
Dr. Wendy Steiner - Author, social critic, Fisher Professor of English and founding director, Penn Humanities Forum, University of Pennsylvania
Naomi Wolf - Author, feminist and social critic

A Letter from Dove

At Dove, we think differently about beauty. Our point of view is optimistic and realistic. We embrace the philosophy that each woman’s looks, shape, size and spirit are what creates her own unique beauty. We believe that a wider definition of beauty is possible – one that is multi-dimensional and defined by women themselves.

Dove wants to be a part of making this definition a reality. With that mission in mind, we commissioned a study to enrich our understanding of how women really feel about beauty – what’s in their heads and in their hearts. The findings surprised us and we think that they will surprise you, too. We’ve discovered that beauty is a passionate topic for women – filled with contradictions. It’s a subject that women both love and loathe to talk about.

The results of this groundbreaking study, The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty, are summarized in this booklet. The title, with its double meaning, implies that (1) beauty is a challenging topic for women, and (2) women are challenging stereotypical views and standards of beauty.

At Dove, we believe – and the findings of this study reinforce – that a cultural shift can take place. Our vision is that a new definition of beauty will free women from self-doubt and encourage them to embrace their real beauty.

The findings in this report are just the beginning. We hope that The Dove Report: Challenging Beauty has pervasive implications for women now and far into the future. Our vision is that this research will generate discussion that will help evolve the perception of beauty to be more empowered, forgiving and democratic.

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