Campaign for Real Beauty

I LOVE Dove's new ad campaign. I remember seeing the first of their Campaign for Real Beauty ads in a fashion magazine several months back and thinking "Hooray!" In the era of Mischa Barton, Nicole Ritchie, and The Olsen Twins, it's nice to see images of real females, with real bodies, not only being displayed but being celebrated!

I'm tired of hearing my gorgeous girl friends complaining about their bodies. I'm tired of seeing Hollywood actresses tout their refusal to "conform to the standards of Hollywood" one day, and revealing their secrets to super-slim downs the next. It's ridiculous the standards we set for ourselves!

Dove is not only taking a risk by choosing this alternative model type (which is fabulous, by the way) but they are also taking strides to help girls all over the world gain better self-confidence and feel better about themselves in general. According to a world-wide poll by Dove, almost 70% of women ages 15-64 have withdrawn from life-engaging activities because of their negative views of themselves and their bodies. As a response, Dove has created their Self-Esteem Fund, and has tools available on its website (a downloadable workbook, ideas and exercises) to help mothers and daughters (almost 70% of teenage girls reported that their mothers have an influence their feelings about themselves and their beauty) reconnect and feel better about themselves.



I applaud Dove for celebrating all the various shapes and sizes we come in, and taking the steps to help our young women attain better and healthier views of their bodies. Perhaps If Dina Lohan can snap out of her desire to be 21 again, she can look up some of these tools and help save her daughter from a drunken and undernourished demise....