Dove Campaign for Real Beauty: Self Esteem Program & Fund

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I was always raised to believe that if I thought I was beautiful others would too. Today there seems to be a tug of war going on between what real beauty is, and how it’s portrayed in films, music, and magazines. We see it everyday, extremely thin models in editorials and on runways, celebrities being overly airbrushed and covering magazines, all battling with the average woman who has a little junk in the trunk and may not wear a size 4. With these opinions, all the back and forth debate, has anyone ever taken the time to even think how this is effecting the generation of young girls looking for a definition of what beauty actually is? Luckily Dove has; they’ve devised a self esteem program aimed at providing young girls with the means to love the skin they’re in, and celebrate the physical, mental, and even spiritual differences in all of us.

Beginning in 2006 the Dove Self Esteem Program & Fund aims to change the western ideal that beauty is what you find in the pages of a magazine, to making sure that every girl feels positive about the way she looks and is not limited by social beauty stereotypes. Promoting that positive self images begin at a very young age, Dove has partnered with such organizations as The Boys & Girls Club of America, Girls Inc, and the Girls Scouts to provide these young women with a vast amount of self esteem tools including videos, workshops, and workbooks, even taking the time to include parents and mentors in the process of elevating self esteem. For those that want to help this cause from a distance, Dove set up their Self Esteem Fund to fund their programming making it extremely easy for anyone to help. When you buy a Dove product and enter the UPC code onto the campaign website, $1 will go towards inspiring self esteem programming for other young girls around the world.

I’ve done some volunteering for Dove’s Self Esteem Program through the Boys & Girls Club here in my hometown, and from experiencing the workshops first hand, I can attest to the fact that not only is it an important program, but it’s also quite effective. There are a lot of women and girls that question and base their idea of beauty off what is seen on the television and through other media outlets. Planting small seeds, like telling a young girl she’s beautiful, makes a bigger impact than you’d think, because if you think you’re beautiful others will also. To learn more about Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty or to get yourself involved, check out their website!

I love Dove products. But, what makes me a loyal fan of the brand is their stance on beauty and the impact of media on the self esteem of women and girls. A few years back they made a splash with their ad campaign featuring real women. Imagine that – the figures of real women in their undies was so shocking. And it wasn’t their state of undress that was shocking – it was that they weren’t anorexic stick figures! Yes, real women have curves. Dove made an statement that all women are beautiful, no matter their size: A statement that resonated and has empowered women to feel comfortable in their own skin.

Stills from the Dove Under Pressure Film

Now, they are taking their message down to women-in-the-making – young girls when they are at their most impressionable. I saw their most recent commercial, Under Pressure, and it really hit a chord. Girls are bombarded with media that tells them what is “beautiful.” I remember when I was a girl, I hated the way I looked because I was so different from the standard of “beauty” back in the hey day of Christy Brinkley. I had brown eyes and dark, curly hair – a very far cry from the crystal blue eyes and long, straight blonde hair of my Barbie doll that I looked up to as the epitome of beauty.

Dove is trying to educate girls (or rather, counter-educate them) about what beauty is and how to improve self esteem. They’ve partnered with the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A, Step Up Women’s Network and other organizations to create programs to raise self-esteem in young women. When you buy Dove products, you’re helping with the Dove Self-Esteem fund create programs and resources for young girls and to reach the targeted 5 million girls by the year 2010. I find their approach refreshing, and much needed, especially at the rate that we are exposed to media. I hope that more companies will follow Dove’s lead.

You can view Under Pressure here and there are a few more great videos about our distorted view of beauty after the jump.
Read the full story