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SALT LAKE CITY — While most women would not describe themselves as beautiful, they also do not consider themselves ugly or unattractive.
The viral video ad campaign "Real Beauty Sketches" by Dove has renewed conversation about women's perceptions of beauty and of themselves. In their campaign, they quote a statistic from their 2004 study, which they updated in 2011*: only 4 percent of women around the world consider themselves beautiful.
The campaign had women describe themselves to a forensic artist, then a stranger described the same women before the two sketches were presented side-by-side. In each case, the women appeared more attractive in the sketch from the stranger's description.
While most women feel uncomfortable describing themselves as beautiful, 71 percent are somewhat or very satisfied with their physical attractiveness and beauty.
Though most women were satisfied with their looks overall, the data showed that nearly half of all women said their body weight was "too high." In the U.S. 60 percent of women made this claim.
Of the 3,200 women questioned in a telephone survey across 10 countries, the Unilever study authors found that " ‘beautiful' is not a word women willingly associate with themselves," and that women are most comfortable using the words "natural" or "average." Women were not presented with negative descriptions.
In the U.S., 27 percent of women said they were of "average" beauty, compared to 25 percent globally. Twenty-seven percent of American women described themselves "natural," and 18 percent said they were "attractive."
Brazilians were most confident using the word "beautiful, with 6 percent describing themselves that way. Women in Great Britain were most uncomfortable using the word, followed by Argentina, Italy and the U.S.
*Updated study not available online. Data referenced in story is from 2004 study.
