What would your sketch show?

What do you look like? How would you describe your eyes, your hair, your ears, your forehead, etc?

 

In this advertisement from Dove several people were asked to describe their faces’ features while they were drawn by a Forensic Artist called Gil Zamora who works for the FBI. He couldn’t see anyone and he just asked people sitting behind the curtains, questions in order to draw a sketch of their faces. Then, after describing themselves, people left and they were asked to meet another person. Everyone now was asked to describe the person they just met and the artist made a second sketch for the same person.

In the end, each person had two sketches of their faces. One sketch was led by their descriptions and the second sketch was drawn with the description the other person offered.

The outcome is fantastic and quite interesting. The two sketches were not identical at all. Comparing them one could easily identify how the different perspectives played their roles. The expressions on people’s faces were extremely different. On the left there was the sketch drawn under the guidance of the person. And there you could see that people perceived themselves in a way that if you think about it, it’s kind of sad and depressing. People really highlighted the features of their faces that they didn’t like, whether the person that described them stressed the beautiful features that stood out.

 When people were asked to compare the sketches they became emotional, because they realized that what they didn’t like about themselves and their perceptions were completely different from the ones that others have about their physical appearance.

People were speechless staring at the two sketches with tears on their eyes, like trying to spot the differences, which were many. They couldn’t believe their eyes; the second drawing depicted someone happier and friendlier as a woman described.

I think they would all agree with what this woman said on the video, about the fact that the way we perceive ourselves has a huge impact on how we act, how we show ourselves to others, how we treat others, how we do everything in life and the choices we make.

Probably, all of us spend more time emphasizing the things we don’t like about ourselves than the things we like. We are too used to look in the mirror and think “how I wish I could change this” or “I hate that”, and now we have to think that the way we see ourselves is completely different from how others see us. We are too harsh on us and too critical.

Sometimes we blame society because it creates certain stereotypes which make us think that we are only going to be happy if we have a certain body or “perfect face”, but society is composed of people and as the video shows sometimes it is us that do this to ourselves. I mean, it is US who are not comfortable with our bodies and it is US who don’t accept and love ourselves.

So, the change starts with each and everyone of us, and in our minds!

I became quite emotional after watching this video. In the end it made me happy to see how these people changed the perception they had of themselves.

I will always do my best to be happy no matter my physical appearance. 

P.D: A round of applause to Dove and its Real Beauty Campaign

Pictures retrieved from:

http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/images/pic2-back.jpg

http://katherineschwarzenegger.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Dove-Samples.jpg