I’m gorgeous … just as I am

The latest TV advert for WeightWatchers in the UK has a cartoon woman dancing around her kitchen lip synching to a song called “Gorgeous”.  It’s a gutsy, fiesty, celebratory song about being a gorgeous woman (“look at my shape … I’m gorgeous”).

The message from the advert seems clear – if we ladies get ourselves some of the WeightWatchers special food range we too can celebrate being gorgeous and curvey.

Hmm … why can’t we be seen and understand ourselves as gorgeous right now – just the way we are? 

These kind of adverts are selling us aspirational lifestyles – but worse they seek to undermine our often already shakey self image and confidence.  We all know that Slim + Perfectly Groomed = Gorgeous is recent concept of what is considered to be beautiful in our society (hourglass figures in the fifties, the voluptuous women of the Renaissance).  

This is only about making money for large corporations and isn’t really founded in a desire to make women feel good about themselves.  It’s difficult to maintain a self image of beauty just the way we are when these kind of messages surround us every day – difficult for men as well as woman.

The song featured in the latest WeightWatchers ad is “Gorgeous” originally sung by Barbara Harris from the first production of the musical “The Apple Tree” (with music by Jerry Bock).

I’d rather turn off the TV, put the song on my stereo and do my own dance to “Gorgeous” in my own gorgeous way. 

You don’t need to buy anything to be gorgeous – you only need yourself.