Crazy Stable

I don't watch much TV, so maybe I'm the last person in the world to catch the latest Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty" ad, but in case you missed it, here's what Advertising Age called "a worthy cause, a brilliant strategy, a flawless video." It is called "Onslaught," and if you're the mother of a daughter, it is downright painful to watch:

I love the Dove campaign, and not just for the obvious reason that I am the mother of a (beautiful) daughter who is already grappling, before her teens have begun, with these devouringly powerful ideas and images. I am also the daughter of a mother who was beautiful and glamorous in her youth, and whose self-esteem was destroyed by the minor cosmetic flaws left by a skin condition in middle age. As a girl, I winced inside as my smartly attired mom, having touched up her lipstick and given herself a dab of Chanel No.5, would turn one last time to the mirror and say, "God, how I hate my face." Now I do my own share of kvetching in front of the mirror about encroaching signs of age and long-resented imperfections, and wince again to hear my daughter say with exasperation and a note of pain, "Mommy, you look fine!"

She thinks the house is beautiful, too. Maybe I should shut up and listen.