The Beauty Machine
Algorithms are pushing us towards a single face of beauty. Every time we scroll, it feels like we’re seeing the same face over and over again. The algorithm keeps serving us one narrow version of “beauty” – flattening individuality and creating pressure to conform.
Dove revealed “The Beauty Machine” in Waterloo Station, London this week. An installation that, like social media feeds, appears to offer variety, but delivers the same, unreal face again and again.
Beauty in the real world is far more unique than what we often see online, and Dove believes that differences are what make us beautiful
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Why are algorithms deciding what is beautiful?
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Working with experts, Dove created these masks to visualise the “single face of beauty” that algorithms increasingly push us toward. This culture of sameness damages individuality and flattens beauty into one unrealistic ideal. As the pressure to conform grows, women find it harder to feel happy in their own individual beauty. This campaign is about celebrating difference, not telling anyone how to look or what they should or shouldn’t do. Dove believes women should define beauty on their own terms, and we are celebrating the differences between us that make us beautiful We are not here to judge or tell anyone what they should or shouldn’t do. Dove believes women should define beauty on their own terms and is celebrating the differences between us that makes us beautiful
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“Algorithms influence us far more than most people realise. They reward the images and aesthetics that generate the most engagement, meaning certain faces and beauty ideals are shown endlessly. Over time that repetition has narrowed the range of beauty we see online — creating the impression that there is a single ideal, even though real beauty is far more diverse across cultures and communities around the world,”
— says Dr Aleks Krotoski, award-winning international broadcaster and social psychologist.
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The algorithm repeats
what it sees.
Algorithms are trained on existing data and patterns, with research supporting the fact that certain facial proportions, skin tones and features are more consistently promoted online, while others are less visible or subtly altered
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9 out of 10
Women feel pressured to change their appearance even when.... know image is fake
*Dove, Real State of Beauty Report, 2024
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2 in 5
Women would give up a year of their life to achieve their beauty ideals.
*Dove, Real State of Beauty Report, 2024
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68%
Of women globally now feel that it is only the most physically attractive women portrayed.
*Dove, Real State of Beauty Report, 2024
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56%
Over half of girls say they feel they “can’t live up” to the beauty standards they see online.
*Dove, Real State of Beauty Report, 2024
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45%
Of young girls believe there is no excuse not to be beautiful, with everything that is available to women today
*Dove, Real State of Beauty Report, 2024
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9 in 10
Women & girls say that they have been exposed to harmful beauty content online.
*Dove, Real State of Beauty Report, 2024
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Share your beautiful difference
Dove is launching an open casting call for all women. No single “type.” No one “ideal.” Just women, proudly showing up as themselves.
The photos shared, the faces represented, challenge us all to stop chasing one single face of beauty and expand what beauty looks like online — helping all women to see beauty as a source of happiness, joy, and self-expression.