The Dove Video and Some Critiques

Here is an email I sent out to my friends to get their feedback about this video.  After  you watch it, read the two critiques.  I am sorry this is long, but I think the critiques are valuable and thought provoking.

Dear Friends,

You may have seen this video circulating of The Dove Video.

Here is where I first saw this video. 
http://bit.ly/113aDRo

I was particularly interested when I saw it because I am interested in how we perceive ourselves and how we respond to our inner critic.  The video is powerful and made a lot of women cry according to Facebook posts. I was no exception.

Accordingly, you might want to enjoy the most prominent message which is a general statement that we are all hard on ourselves and that we don't see our own beauty that others see in us.  I did.  I confess I have only seen it once and saved it to put on my blog. Alas, when I saw the (2) critiques that are attached at the bottom of the page on this link where the video is, I had second thoughts.
 
Here is the first critique from: 

Jazzy Little Drops >   http://bit.ly/15d3MdD

Here is the second critique from:

Big Fat Feminist >  http://bit.ly/17UGEAq

I find these critiques to be thoughtful and my reaction: sadness.  Where I had hope that someone (read: a major corporation who sells to women might actually care about their target market) might be having my best interest at heart, they still miss the boat. 

Watching this video and then reading these critiques trigger a third response in me that I must comment on here.  When I have studied different subject matter and came to my own conclusions, I have been most annoyed to discover that there may have been deeper, broader possibilities or meaning than my literal mind might never have considered.  I resented being told what poetry meant.  I could never see that a pattern of stars in the sky indicated a Big Dipper or a Bear Swatting at UFO's.  I felt my own intelligence was in question and that I must submit my own learning to another authority.

So it was with my resentment of being told what I was "really" seeing in the Dove Ad that I read the opinions of the two bloggers.  I found them to be satisfying, thought provoking and worth reading.

This email became too long since I am asking you to take time to watch a six minute video and read two critiques as well. I apologize because I know you are busy, but ever now and then, I need to be reminded how pervasively harmful the culture is toward women even when it seems someone is genuinely trying not to be. 

Now that I've written all this, I think I am going to put it all on Ida Clare and if you are inclined, you are welcome to continue the conversation.  Thank you for your time.