Latest research from Dove

Dove recently completed a study entitled Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem. A total of 4,373 girls, ages 8 to 17, were surveyed online and throughout the United States. Some highlights of the findings include:

-Seven in ten girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members
-62% of all girls feel insecure or not sure of themselves
-57% of all girls have a mother who criticizes her own looks
-More than half (57%) of all girls say they don’t always tell their parents certain things about them because they don’t want them to think badly of them
-75% of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities, such as disordered eating, cutting, bullying, smoking, or drinking, when feeling badly about themselves (Compared to 25% of girls with high self-esteem)
(For more, see the report at http://www.rocketxl.com/dsef/assets/DSEF_Report.pdf)

For those of us who care about this topic, it's not any news that our society's view of "beautiful" has been severely distorted. “The existing narrow definition of beauty is not only unrealistic and unattainable, but clearly it also creates hang-ups that can lead girls to question their own beauty,” said Philippe Harousseau, U.S. marketing director for Dove. “It’s time to free the next generation from these stereotypes and give girls the tools they need to discover their own definition of beauty.”

Dove is offering free tools to download for moms, girls, and mentors, including "True You and Mirror, Mirror" booklets, Interactive exercises, & Workshop Facilitator Guide DVD (find those tools HERE.)

I could honestly go on and on about the importance of instilling a sense of worth, value, and beauty in not only young girls but in everyone, but this post is already long enough (plus you can also check out my other posts on Dove's campaign here and here). The bottom line is we can't teach this to others unless we can accept ourselves for who we really are. If you need help or want to help, check out Dove's workshops or see what else you can do to help.

I've also pasted this video below; show it to others so they know how a photoshoot actually works!