Dove Encourages Moms to Help Their Daughters Embrace Real Beauty

In December 2013, I blogged about Dove's revelation that only 7% of Filipino women see themselves as beautiful. You can read that post here and other posts about Dove here. Since its inception in 1957, Dove has been advocating and encouraging women to fully embrace their #RealBeauty and now seeks to change the low 7% figure through the #IamBeautiful campaign.

Dove reports that the response to the #IamBeautiful movement has been staggering because in just a matter of months, "beautiful" has taken a shift in paradigm hinged on self-acceptance and self-worth. To date, the campaign has reached over 1 million women declaring their beauty. This, in turn, has sparked public interest and brought to light the need to address the issues and anxieties faced by girls of all ages.

Apples and Lexi

Now, Dove is gearing up to take another significant turn in its mission of espousing Real Beauty to the next level by reaching out to the next generation of young Filipinas so that the perception of beauty will now be honed and positively influenced at a younger age.

Unilever's Mian David

Results of a locally-comissioned study by Dove on young Filipina adolescent girls revealed that 2 out of 3 girls feel external pressure from peers and friends to look beautiful . Despite this, these same girls are hopeful about the future. In fact, 81% of them said they still consider their mom as their role model as compared to the global average of just 55%.

Karla Cruz of The Voice Kids Philippines

Yet, it is quite saddening to know this beauty anxiety in our young girls ends up pressuring them to squeeze into the rigid definitions of beauty. However, Dove believes that mothers can potentially serve as catalysts of change in creating a future generation of empowered women. After all, behind every Dove girl is a mother who taught her to believe in her own beauty. 

Unilever's Joanne Lorenzana

In an event hosted by Unilever's Apples Aberin and Lexi Schultz held at Green Sun, Pasong Tamo, celebrity moms Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan, Christine Jacobs-Sandejas, and Tintin Bersola-Babao, shared their stories on how they eventually embraced their own beauty and they ways they are now passing on that legacy to their own daughters. Joining them to give professional insights was psychologist Dr. Honey Carandang.

Dove also shared its newest film entitled Dove Legacy where moms were asked how they felt about their bodies. The results were quite surprising when their daughters were asked the same question because it turned out that the the moms' insecurities were clearly mirrored in their respective daughters. The same goes with the things they are happiest about with their bodies.

If you have a daughter yourself, do watch this touching film as it emphasizes the integral role that you, as a mother, play in the formation of your daughter. Because young girls often mirror their mothers' actions, you have the power to mold your female children into confident, empowered women by helping change the way they perceive themselves and their self worth.

What is your beauty legacy? Post a photo of you and your daughter on social media and tell Dove what makes you both beautiful and use the hashtag #WeAreBeautiful. For more inspiration, please like Facebook.com/DovePH and follow @doveph on Twitter and Instagram.