Most RI women don't consider themselves pretty

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A young woman sits and seems to be talking to herself," When I walked into a mall, I looked at the mirror, wow, how beautiful my hair is." It's the closing line of a television advertisement for Dove shampoo.

In another television advertisement for Dove soap, a product of multi-national company Unilever, a young woman touches her cheek and also comments on her beauty.

The trick employed by Unilver in advertising its products is showing women who feel good about themselves after using the product.

Probably, the strategy is based on the company's recent survey of more than 2,000 women across Asia which revealed that only 1 percent of women in Indonesia would call themselves beautiful.

The survey titled: The Real Truth About Asian Beauty: Asian Women's Attitudes Toward Self-Esteem, Body Image and Media Portrayal, also revealed that only 3 percent of Asian women consider themselves to be beautiful.

The company did not provide comparative figures for other regions such as Europe and the United States, but it says the survey shows that Asian women lack self esteem, particularly about their bodies.

The survey was carried out in 11 Asian countries, while in Indonesia, it was carried out in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Bandung and Semarang.

The survey does not divulge the reasons behind the lack of self esteem. Is it due to the influence of culture or images portrayed in the media?

For a long time, many cultures considered a women's body taboo. It was considered dirty due to menstruation and thus should be cleaned, veiled and talked about secretly.

Slowly, the taboo is disappearing. Yet, the treatment of women's body as an object lingers. And the industry makes a lot of money every year from products aimed at beautifying the female form.

For years, the industry is blamed for introducing a single concept of beauty: white skin, straight hair and slim body. Advertisement of beauty products often show women that meet the category along with admiring male stars.

As an impact, women of colors, curly hair and different shape body feel marginalized.

Unilever focuses on women in its Dove advertisement. Unlike many other adertisments, the Dove advertisement shows no male models who are captivated by the looks of the female stars. Still, it is trapped in the stereotypical perception of women's beauty.

Although Indonesian women lack self-esteem the survey indicates that Indonesian women are much happier than women in many countries in Asia.

The survey shows that Indonesian women keep a balance between "inner beauty" and physical performance.