This is the award winning video from the cosmetics group Dove. Dove made a risky decision when they decided to embark on their Campaign for Real Beauty. What this videos serves shows that the old idiom "seeing is believing" is not so cut and dry.

However, It comes as no shock to anyone that the advertisement agencies may have been trying to deceive us. The question we should be asking is what constitutes deception and whether there is a level of fraud that is acceptable? Deceit is a common facet of the human psyche that manifests itself on both conscious and subconscious levels. You would be naive to think that the goal of advertisement is not to present a product in the best light possible, but rather to simply show the product for what it is; warts and all.

Some people would argue that this is acceptable when we are talking about the latest car or gadget but when we are addressing how we as a society define beauty then we have crossed the line. The truth is that we have been using deception as a principle tool in the quest for self-beautification since time eternal. Makeup, fashion trends, hair-styles and piercings are not an invention of the 20th century but have been documented since written records began and in the archaeological register. If we want to talk about the dangers of beauty just read the Homeric legend of Troy that tells the oft-recited tale of the stunning Helen, whose beauty caused the death of thousands of men.

What is seen as beautiful from one generation to the next is not clear; in Victorian times pale skinned voluptuous women were favoured, while lean bodied males were symbolic of a rich upbringing that the muscular labourer found hard to fake. Many will argue that this is not the problem but rather that we have crossed the line in our definition of real beauty. After hundreds of thousands of years of evolution as a species we belong to the very first generation that sees starvation as an integral part of self-improvement. When we consider that conditions such as anorexia weren't even heard of a few decades ago we are forced to ask questions of society. Some suggest that what has changed is the distortion by mass media of what we consider beautiful.

So by Dove highlighting this problem will it suddenly go away? The uneasy reality is this is far from likely. By using normal people as models in advertisements, companies run the risk of not maximising their sales. The tactic has worked for Dove because it is novel and has struck a cord with the public. Neither should we forget that Dove, after all, is a company that is interested in increasing profits, rather than some type of open-source style cosmetics company. Part of the key to Dove's success is the breaking the nauseating advertising formula of mixing sex, beauty and happiness. However, if everyone employs the same approach, the opportunity for some other company to cash in by using top models becomes even more tempting. As such, it's a zero sum game.

Another interesting point that has surfaced in response to this article is whether or not we can trust a photograph. What few seem to realise is that from the get go photography has been manipulated through various composition, lighting, exposure and darkroom techniques to influence public opinion, to show the ghost of our dearly departed uncle Dan, or to capture beauty. Since, digital photos offers more room for manipulation doesn't this invalidate their truthfulness? This question can be addressed in what is in my opinion the real achievement of this movie short, in that it highlights a flawed way of thinking on our part – our gullibility. It asks us to be sceptical of everything. Being a sceptical thinker does not mean being incredulous about everything, but on the contrary it requires questioning things that come from unreliable sources such as the internet (yes, I am suggesting that you should be sceptical of what you are reading right now) and those that have ulterior motives (in the case of advertising, increased sales). In the end, we may not have the time nor energy to question everything that makes up our reality. However, just being aware that what we hold to be true may not be so is more than half the battle.

Tags: beauty

In what seems to be a direct reaction to the dismissal earlier this year of Miss Cantabria for being a mother, the organisers of Miss Spain have decided to allow mothers to compete. The dethroned Miss Cantabria appeared on TV last night stating that she was taking legal action in an attempt to get reinstated. Even if she manages to do so I imagine that the pageant organisers will not look to fondly on the fact that she appeared nude in the latest edition of the Spanish magazine Interviú.

The competition has also set a precedence by allowing transsexuals to enter the competition for the first time. This follows from a law passed earlier this year allowing for transsexuals in Spain to change their legal gender without having to undergo surgery.

The way I see it, if a transsexual can win Miss Spain, fair dues to them. That'd be one hell of an achievement. Neither do I see this as an impossibility. Many a fellow had a crush on former Eurovision winner Dana International (left), at least that is before discovering that she used to be a man. Of course this will set alight the debate over what actually consitutes being male, or female, or whether these categories are more shades of grey, rather than simply black and white.

I think that a quotation from Renton (Ewan McGregor) in the film Trainspotting said it best:

"In a thousand years, there will be no men and women, just wankers, and that's fine by me."

Tags: Spain, beauty, pageant, transsexuals, mothers