2 Flares Twitter 2 Tweet Facebook 0 Google+ 0 Pin It Share 0 StumbleUpon 0 Email Email to a friend 2 Flares ×

Did you know 6 out of 10 girls stop doing what they love because they feel bad about their looks?

This happened to me a bit when I was younger. I stopped playing recreation department softball because I felt that I was too overweight to be really good at it. I felt that I was dragging my team down based on what I looked like – even though I was still healthy and could hit and run with the best of them.

I want to combat those feelings with the little girls I know – and any future daughters I may have. It’s important that we stress the importance of seeing the real beauty in a person, which goes much further down than what you see on the outside.

Dove® research shows that it is still important for us to address girls’ anxiety about looks, as there is a universal increase in beauty pressure and a decrease in girls’ confidence as they grow older. Key findings from our latest research include:

• Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (up from 2% in 2004)
• Only 11% of girls globally are comfortable using the word beautiful to describe themselves
• 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful
• 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful but do not see their own beauty
• More than half (54%) of women globally agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic
SOURCE: Dove Research: The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited

How You Can Get Involved

Luckily, there are several ways to get involved with this!

Join women across the county, October 5-7, when Dove will be holding a nationwide rally to talk about beauty, confidence and self-esteem. Commit to talk to the girl in your life during the weekend and beyond – it all starts with a conversation. 

If you can’t share over the weekend, any time is a good time to start the conversation.

Not sure where to start? Download the Let’s Talk Toolkit! Created with Jess Weiner, Dove Global Self-Esteem Ambassador, this is a great resource for all women on starting a conversation in a simple way. Ask, Share, Listen and Act — you’ll find unintimidating ways to do make these a natural part of your talk about Self-Esteem.

Connect on Facebook!

You can share your commitment to girls’ self-esteem with your friends on Facebook! Visit Dove’s Facebook Page or use the Send a Note of Confidence Link to select your message and share with your friends.

Follow Dove on Twitter and join them for a Twitter party!

 We’ll be kicking off the Self-Esteem Weekend with an inspiring Twitter Party on October 4 at 3pm ET! Join @Dove by using the hashtag #DoveInspired, where you’ll be able to ask @JessWeiner questions and advice with prizes from Dove.

This article is sponsored by Dove.