‘Happy girls are the prettiest!’

These beautiful words by Audrey Hepburn should’ve been the adage every woman could live by, but in these times of photoshopping, unrealistic body standards and a distorted perception of what is beautiful, beauty has become bound by a certain set of rules. We have 638 million women in our country, spread across 29 states, speaking 22 languages and yet our definition of beauty is so restrictive. There is often a perception that to be regarded as beautiful, you need to have the perfect blend of flawless skin, almond eyes, luscious hair and perfect curves. Such is the state of things that we’ve learnt to commodify beauty rather than celebrate it for its uniqueness.

Dove’s new video for its #LetsBreakTheRulesOfBeauty campaign is an eye-opener.

It was surprising to watch these young girls pick a model with flawless features as the ideal standard of beauty. The idea hit home when the video revealed that by age 10 girls imbibe set rules to beauty and almost 6 out of 10 begin to feel the pressure to look beautiful. Startled yet?

There clearly is a need to break past these unrealistic standards of beauty. Dove is urging young girls and women to develop a positive and confident self-image by not succumbing to mainstream media’s widespread beauty rules.

The brand’s recent initiative of launching the No Digital Distortion mark further reiterates its commitment to only show accurate, real and non-distorted portrayal of people. The campaign drives home the message of not falling into the trap of established standards of beauty. Whether it is Instagram or Facebook, we are constantly suffering from an anxiety to measure up to the standards of beauty, often resorting to filters and digital tools as a magic wand for concealment.

Need I say more to urge all you girls to show your unfiltered, honest, and most importantly, your real photos on social media?

BRB, ‘gramming a no filter #Workfie.