Girls Unstoppable

The main sponsor of last week’s Mom 2.0 Summit was Dove. Their goal was to spread the word about their “Girls Unstoppable” campaign.

Their mission?

“To encourage all women and girls to develop a positive relationship with beauty, helping to raise their self-esteem, and thereby enabling them to realize their full potential.”

I have to say – it was the highlight of the weekend for me, and I want to share with you what Dove is doing, how you can get involved, and how you can use the tools they’ve developed with your own kids.

Here’s a quick video produced at Mom 2.0 (I didn’t see Jenny or me in the background but we were THERE!)

Why is this important? Take a look at these statistics:

– 72% of girls feel pressure to be beautiful.
– More than 60% of girls avoid certain activities because they feel bad about their looks. For example: 19% won’t try out for a team or a club; 23% won’t go to the beach or pool; 13% won’t give an opinion; 15% won’t go to school.
– Satisfaction with body image decreases as girls progress to adolescence. While 75% of 8-9 year old girls say they like the way they look, by age 12-13 only 56% like their appearance.

I am having a really, really hard time putting into words how meaningful the experience was for me, and how much I believe in the work they’re doing. But let me tell you this – when I had a chance to meet Dove’s Global Self-Esteem Ambassador Jess Weiner last Saturday afternoon? I couldn’t speak – my emotions got the best of me. But it was ok, because Jess got it, she knew what I was communicating even though I couldn’t say a word.

In any case, I encourage all of you to visit Dove’s Girls Unstoppable website and take a look at all the resources they’ve made available. One of the most helpful things I found on there is the self-esteem activity guide for mothers and daughters – it’s full of conversation starters and activities to get our daughters talking with us. I cannot wait to go through it with Kate! You can download a version for girls 8-11 or one for 11-16 year olds.

You might learn a thing or two about your own self-esteem while you’re at it.