CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!
My friends and I have recently been having so much fun looking at old pictures of ourselves from high school. It’s been amazing to see how much we’ve changed and remember the girls that we were. I always had a “thing” about my weight in high school, convinced I was fat. I’m almost a little angry now for being so hard on myself back then. I most certainly didn’t have a weight problem and can’t believe how focused I was on how I looked, as if my self-worth were soley based on those two things. And sadly, girls today still struggle with these very same issues.
Did you know:
75 percent of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative and potentially harmful activities, such as disordered eating, cutting, bullying, smoking or drinking,when feeling badly about themselves—compared with 25 percent of girls with high selfesteem.
· 61 percent of teen girls with low self-esteem admit to talking badly about themselves (Compared to 15 percent of girls with high self-esteem)
· 25 percent of teen girls with low self-esteem resort to injuring themselves on purpose or cutting when feeling badly about themselves (Compared to 4 percent of girls with high self-esteem)
· 25 percent of teen girls with low self-esteem practice disordered eating, such as starving themselves, refusing to eat, or over-eating and throwing up, when feeling badly about themselves (Compared to 7 percent of girls with high self-esteem
These findings were recently published as part of Dove’s Real Girls,
Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem.
Dove, a trusted authority on skincare, is on a mission to change the way girls think and help them focus on positivity when it comes to self esteem. They’ve launched the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to bring self-esteem programming to girls across the country and to encourage everyone to make a difference in the lives of girls. This new initiative is part of the Dove Self-Esteem Fund goal to reach 5 million girls globally by 2010 with self-esteem programming and have partnered with organizations such as The Girl Scouts of America and the Boys and Girls Clubs to empower as many young people as possible with the self confidence so many of them need and deserve.
To help spread this message, Dove has generously offered one Mommy Cracked reader the chance to win a prize package that includes a “Your Beautiful
Pass It On” t-shirt and 2 books titled “Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters” by Courtney E. Martin and “Life Doesn’t Begin 5 Pounds From Now” by Jessica Weiner.
To win:
Visit Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty website. There are so many resources available there to help you help a young girl develop her own positive self esteem.
Come back here and leave a comment on this post telling me one positive thing you can do to help a young girl (it can be your child or someone you know) in your life feel great about herself.
Contest will close at 11 PM Central on Sunday, February 1. U.S. only.
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Remind them that real beauty comes from within.
donna444444@yahoo.com
I work with girls from 3-12. I try to encourage each one of them that they are special and important. Thank you
candieluster(at)gmail(dot)com
Tell them they are beautiful, because they all are.
encourage them to get involved in activities that make them feel good about themselves such as sports or even gardening 🙂
I am reinforcing the fact that my daughter is smart and can accomplish anything if she puts her mind and effort to doing it.
My daughter is 12 years old and always worried about her appearance. I tell her that she has so many talents, and is beautiful and she will go far in life…and not to worry about what others say.
This is a wonderful project that Dove is doing!
mandjregan[at]gmail.com
I’m lucky enough to teach Jr. High girls and the one thing I teach them is “Be confident in you- everyone has their own talent.”
I think it is important not to mention weight much in front of young girls and women, especially in contexts where it is seen as a measure of a person. Instead of saying “You look great; did you lose weight?” to a friend, just say “You look great!”
urchiken at gmail dot com
Tell her those little bony skanks are going to age quicker and her Rubenesque dimensions will help her look young.
When a child is loved for not what she looks like or what she does but for who she is, she believes in herself and is able to say no when she needs to and yes to the right things. Take time to listen to them and hear what they are really saying. rosans4@comcast.net
As a father, I can love her unconditionally and completely; I can encourage her at all times that she can be whatever she wants to be and whatever that is will be good enough.
I love Dove’s campaign as it really does help our teens look at themselves with pride and respect. I try to help my daughter by always remembering what it felt like to be at that age and how unsure you feel about yourself and the world. She knows she can talk to me about anything and I will always listen without judging. Some of the best times we have are when we sit together in the evening in our swing outside and I tell her stories of what I was like at that age. We laugh together and I feel so close to her. I think the best thing you can do for your daughter or another young person is to remember that we were all that age once and had growing pains.
I have a 13 yr old daughter so I try to always be positive for her. I focus more on her artistic talents and less on looks, try and remind her it’s always what’s on the inside that counts.
I tell my daughter even though she’s only 2 that she is pretty just the way that she is! I think we need to tell little girls this starting at a young age to prevent self-esteem issues later in life. Also, moms need to love themselves, because their daughters see this!
Great campaign.
ktgonyea at gmail.com
I tell my daughter that she is smart, pretty, & kind. I tell her always to hold her head high no matter what people may say or think.
I try to give my daughter realistic examples of role models – not twig thin, air brushed models in magazines.
I would tell her she is beautiful…on the inside and out. Thanks for the giveaway!
Tell a girl that she’s beautiful and really mean it.
listen to them.
I like to focus on my my 12 and 14 year old nieces talents. They ride horses, paint pictures, act in plays-they are incredible, and I tell them that all the time.
I try to set a good example for my niece. My family likes to focus on weight, but I try to focus on her sports and just being active. I constantly tell her she is getting taller when they say “you’ve lost weight.” It’s not about weight but being healthy and active.
couponcrazymom00 at gmail dot com
Take the time to get to know your son’s girlfriend.
teach her she is a beautiful person. to be pround of herself and be confident
What I say to my daughters is that it’s what you do that’s important. And that true beauty comes from within. That’s easily proven too. I’ve see interviews and candid footage of ‘beautiful’ people showing some really awful personality traits. When I show my daughters a still photo of the person and then the video they really understand… even my little one says, “She’s not a princess, she’s a bad guy!”. 🙂
It works in reverse too. Some of the most gracious and amazing women that are doing wonderful things aren’t culturally ‘beautiful’, so showing a still photo and then video of them and their passion and good works helps my daughters understand true beauty.
The new Dove campaign is really great. I hope others follow suit.
I tell my daughter inner strength, Self-Esteem and the ability to take care of yourself is really a beautiful thing!!
I think spending quality time together having fun is the best thing you can do for a child’s self esteem.
I will pass on to my granddaughter (who is almost 5) that using your brain is a beautiful thing. Thank you!
Tell them they are beautiful, because they are.
I tell my daughters that beauty is skin-deep, it’s what you do, say, and how your treat others that shows your true beauty. There’s too much emphasis in society on beauty.
I love that they have this campaign, although I already purchase their products, nobody makes soap like they do!
I work with young girls and I always remind them that no one can make them feel bad unless they give them permission to. Be true to themselves and know that they are worth it!
autumn398 (at) yahoo.com
we all as women and men- dads need to show girls its not everything that counts in life and that beauty also comes from within and everyone is different
I tell my daughter this because it’s true: If I could have dreamed up the most wonderful daughter imaginable, and choose the most wonderful daughter anywhere, I couldn’t have imagined anybody as wonderful as her.
Perfect? Let’s hope not. Wouldn’t that be dull?
Yay for Dove that they’re putting money behind a POSITIVE message.
Wow. That’s fantastic. I have been so impressed with Dove’s campaign that I go out of my way to purchase their products.
I’m trying to change for my daughter. I’m attempting to become more comfortable in my own skin, and even when I’m not, I don’t let her know it. I am eliminating the word fat from my vocabulary and trying to let her know that who she is, is more important that who she wears or who she looks like.