About Campaign for Real Beauty
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is a global effort is intended to serve
as a starting point for societal change and act as a catalyst for widening the
definition and discussion of beauty. Employing various communication vehicles
-- advertising, http://www.campaignforealbeauty.com, interactive billboards,
panel discussions, and a Self-Esteem Fund -- the campaign invites women to
join in the discussion about beauty and share their views of it with women
around the world. The Campaign for Real Beauty supports the Dove mission: to
make women feel more beautiful every day by challenging today's stereotypical
view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves.
About the Dove Self-Esteem Fund
The Dove Self-Esteem Fund (DSEF) was established to raise the self-esteem
of girls and young women to make them feel more beautiful and confident every
day. The DSEF is part of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, a global effort
designed to widen today's stereotypical view of beauty. A global project, the
Fund consists of a network of local country initiatives linked in strategy and
direction by a global steering group. In each country, the DSEF supports a
specific charitable organization to help foster self-esteem.
In the U.S., the Fund supports uniquely ME!, a partnership with Girl
Scouts of the USA that helps build self-confidence in girls ages 8 to 17 with
educational resources and hands-on activities. In the United Kingdom and other
countries, the fund supports Body Talk, an educational program about body
image and self-esteem in schools.
About uniquely ME!
The uniquely ME! program was developed by Unilever (Dove's parent company)
and the Girl Scouts of the USA in 2002 to foster positive self-esteem among
adolescent and pre-adolescent girls ages eight-to-17 in the U.S. and Puerto
Rico, with a focus on girls in underprivileged communities. The Dove
Self-Esteem Fund, which supports initiatives that help educate and inspire
girls to embrace a wider definition of beauty, works through the Unilever
Foundation to sponsors uniquely ME!
About Dove
The Dove mission is to make women feel more beautiful every day by
challenging today's stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take
great care of themselves. Dove, manufactured by Unilever, is the No. 1
personal wash brand nationwide. One in every three households uses a Dove
product(7), which includes beauty bars, body washes, face care, anti-
perspirant/deodorants, hair care and styling aids. Dove is available
nationwide in food, drug and mass outlet stores.
I don't want to take away from the congratulatory theme of this thread. But, I just want to ask for feedback on something:
These are all excellent ideas. I believe that women should take external and internal care of themselves and that wanting to be beautiful isn't a bad thing in moderation.
However, I have some issues with the Girl Scouts of America, in general. I know these programs are geared toward standards of beauty and the psychology behind it all. I just wonder if anyone has considered how all of this ties into gendered socialization and traditional gender roles. How much has the Girl Scouts changed in their practices? I haven't worked with them in 20 years. This can go along with a comment someone else made about people being proud of their cellulite.