(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Advertising changed in the mid 00’s.

It might have been a reaction to the saturation of thin, white, blonde women selling products. Or perhaps it was an attempt to do something new, something creative. But whatever it was, the central theme of the adverts I was surrounded by growing up, was this.

‘All women are beautiful’.

‘You are beautiful’


‘Curvy women are beautiful too!’

Nice, right? Totally innocuous.

Only the thing is, it’s actually not nice. It’s a problem.

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Yes, women of all different shapes sizes and colours can be beautiful and yes, we should be pushing that message. Similarly, it’s entirely true that most people have some beauty to them.



But why, when we are discussing the universal quality which all women have, does it have to be beauty?

Realistically, no. Not everyone is beautiful. Being beautiful is unusual. It’s defined by its unusualness. Like being very intelligent or athletic, the reason it’s an interesting characteristic about a person is because it applies to a small number of people.

Beauty is an uncomplicated concept. It’s about looking like you’d be a good mate, biologically. It’s about having symmetrical features.

Not everyone has those things. It might not sound like a nice thing to say, but not everyone is objectively beautiful. Some people are talented or funny or clever or great at playing the saxophone instead.

And here’s the point. That’s okay.

It’s completely and utterly fine that not every woman is beautiful.

Every woman has her own qualities, some of them amazing and some of them unremarkable. Many of us are beautiful to someone. But not all of us are objectively ‘face that launched a thousand ships’ beautiful.

So why do advertising campaigns insist on telling us that we are?

Because they want to flatter us into buying things.

I can respect that. We’re all trying to make a living here. But what troubles me is the selection of ‘beautiful’ and the most important thing a person can me. Can’t we be told that all women are important? Or valuable? Or worthy?

That’s what they mean. When someone tells you that you’re beautiful they don’t just mean that you’re pretty, they mean that you are worth listening to, that you’re important, that you matter. But those two things shouldn’t be allowed to be synonymous.

There are far more important things to be in life than beautiful. Kind, smart, thoughtful, understanding, observant, healthy, organised, able to pull together dinner from the vegetables at the bottom of your fridge and the end of a block of cheese.

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

We know that brands mean well. You’re trying to make women of colour, women with freckles or acne or lines, plus size women and older women feel like they’re involved, like they’re allowed to be involved.



But the truth is, they shouldn’t have to be beautiful to be allowed a seat at the table.

Some women are beautiful. Some aren’t. That should no longer be allowed to dictate their value.

So please, brands, start telling women that they are valuable, worthy or important rather than telling them that they’re beautiful.

MORE: Restaurant advertised for female cleaners only because ‘women are better at cleaning’

MORE: Company tries to sell toilet paper using ‘black is beautiful’ slogan with white model

Advertisement Advertisement