Dove Reality Diaries - Four Girls Share Important Insight

One expert, four girls, a few tears, six weeks, and a watershed of growth - that's the Dove Reality Diaries in a nutshell. But that is too simplified. How do I breakdown into a few paragraphs the transformations of Sydney, Chelsea, Jordyn, and Irene? I'm not sure I can. This morning I watched each of their video diaries and was amazed at how candid they were about their feelings and struggles. I marveled at how seriously these teenagers took the self-esteem exercises. They trusted Jess Weiner, author and self-esteem expert, to guide them along the way to their authentic selves.

No more hiding behind a mask of make-up, depending on boyfriends to complete them, or devaluing their reflections in the mirror. These girls are now armed with the tools to confidently face the world. The best part - Any teen anywhere in the world can watch the transformations and interact with the girls and others on the website. There is a message board and a link to ask Jess for advice. There are packets of information to download and tests to take that help evaluate where a girl stands in relationship to herself and the images pushed on her by the media. Every young girl/or woman/and I'd expect anyone who uses the tools on the site has the opportunity to confront their own issues and move toward change just as the four girls did.

On December 18th there will be a live chat with Jess Weiner and the girls from the diaries. Jump in, add your opinions and questions. Jess directs the conversations with thought provoking questions and topics. To get a feel for these live chats Dove has posted a transcript of the first conversation.

Here are some disturbing facts about what young girls and women are facing in our society today:

One-third of all girls in grades nine to 12 think they are overweight, and 60 percent are trying to lose weight.

Only 56 percent of seventh graders say they like the way they look.

Studies show that 57 percent of girls have fasted, gone on diets, used food substitutes, or smoked more cigarettes to lose weight.

Research also shows that messages girls receive from the media can damage their feelings of self-worth and negatively affect their behavior. More than one in four girls surveyed feel the media pressures them to have a perfect body

Girls who watch TV commercials featuring underweight models lose self-confidence and become more dissatisfied with their own bodies

As a result, girls question their own beauty: between 50 and 70 percent of girls of normal weight believe they are overweight.

Dove wants girls to know that it doesn't have to be this way. Their global plan addresses the whole girl/woman from body image to intellectual development. This is something that should be applauded in a corporate culture that values profit over all else. We have a long way to go and even Unilever, the parent company of Dove, could make a few changes to align their other products (i.e. AXE body spray) with this positive school of thought.

Even so that doesn't discount or diminish the good being accomplished by the Dove campaign for Real Beauty. Every movement starts somewhere. I'm hoping more companies and brands will follow this shining example.

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty - Celebrating All Women

In 2005 Dove Soap launched an ad campaign featuring real women. Ones who didn't fit the industry standard. They were a cross-section of society, different races and ages, curvy, plump, pale, freckled, fit, unconventional, and gorgeous in their own way. I remember hearing comments like, "What do they think their doing? Who wants to look at that? She looks like my mother! I want Victoria's Secret girls!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. Tyra Banks is one of the most beautiful and celebrated models in the world but after following her television show for a few episodes it became apparent that she's shaped much more like me and my friends than her famous Victoria's Secret pictorials would lead you to believe. Like all models, Tyra had been photoshopped seven ways to Sunday.

Funny thing is....the beauty industry didn't need to rework her into an unacheiveable image. She was gorgeous before they ever turned their computer mouses loose to "touch up" her photos.


Dove realized this, not nessecarily about Ms. Banks but about all models, all women, and the images mass media was selling a whole generation of growing girls. The company made a bold move to do something about it, to expose the secrets of their own industry, and hopefully reverse some of the damage to the self-esteem of millions of young women.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and Dove Self-Esteem Fund have launched print ads and particularly a series of television ads to further the cause. The evolution commercial shows the transformation of an every day pretty girl to a cover creature that only exists in a photoshopped folder on a laptop. The end tag says, "It's no wonder our perception of beauty is so distorted." All I can say is, "Amen."

On their website, http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.co.nz/site/default.asp, Dove provides resources for getting involved, mentoring girls and promoting positive body image, and a forum where you can express your views.

This is a quote from Leanne Landolfi, Brand Manager, Dove Australia. Hopefully, more beauty companies will follow suit and begin to sell a real and realisitic idea of beauty.

"Being a global beauty brand, we strongly believe that it is our responsibility to make women feel more beautiful every day. As girls care about the way they look from such an early age, we believe that it is extremely important to encourage younger girls to build a healthy body image and to have a balanced view on what real beauty is."

She continued, "This is a long-term commitment from Dove. We will be setting new goals for the Fund each year, reviewing past activities and assessing their effectiveness in building the body image self-esteem of young people. The Fund has already made a big impact in other countries, and we are tremendously excited about the potential for it to become a positive influence."

I will be buying Dove products and supporting their efforts. Ideas are alreay changing. I asked my daughter to sit with me and watch the evolution commercial.

When it was finished she said, "Yeah, I know that and I like the way I look."

"Well, alrighty then." I beamed with pride.