Cynicism is not an attractive trait, but in journalism it’s part of the job description. Beauty journalism is no exception; indeed an arched eyebrow (skilfully threaded, naturally) is vital. All those “must-haves” and “breakthroughs” require an extra layer of scepticism, and I remember back in 2004, when Dove announced its “Campaign for Real Beauty”, thinking, “Here we go: another piece of clever marketing dressed up as genuine concern.” Granted, photographing so-called ordinary women in their underwear and presenting them as an alternative to the airbrushed norm was different; but surely it was just another advertising tool to shift units?

I was, in part, right. Those women, a wonderfully diverse collection of shapes, colours and sizes, did Dove commercially proud. Sure, Dove was raising “awareness”, but it was also selling moisturiser.

And so it was with a slight feeling of apprehension that I agreed to take part in a Dove round-table discussion on female self-esteem. I was surprised, at first, to be sitting next to Susie Orbach, psychologist and famed feminist author. Across the table from me were the model Erin O’Connor, the Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson and Susan Ringwood, the CEO of Beat, a charity that helps people with eating disorders.

Orbach was as you might expect: brilliant, eloquent and just a touch terrifying. But O’Connor was no intellectual lightweight. Perhaps more than anyone else there, she truly understands the pressure of looking different in an industry seemingly obsessed with the thin, white, blonde female. Despite being the living embodiment of willowy (she’s a size 12), she is deemed too large for studio work.

The discussion was lively (see it for yourself at dove.co.uk). And yet we all agreed on one thing: the homogenisation of the female form is a deeply ingrained and pernicious thing. Ironically, the more women’s horizons expand, the smaller our range of beauty is supposed to be. The idea that we should all conform to a narrow template is not only wrong, it is damaging. As Ringwood points out, young girls will never grow up with a decent sense of their physical selves if all the while they are being made to feel hopelessly inadequate by a culture that wants them to conform to an anatomically impossible ideal.

Perhaps I am going soft, but in the end I had to concede: give Dove credit where credit is due. It’s not just the endorsement of a woman as serious as Orbach that brings me to that conclusion; it’s also the fact that however much Dove wants to sell us moisturiser, it also wants to sell us a little sanity. For someone like me, whose little daughter is growing up in a world where models are being airbrushed into oblivion, that practically feels like a public service. I can hardly begrudge them a little profit on the side.

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