Dove, entertainment industry to educate girls on reality vs. Hollywood
GREENWICH, Conn. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has announced that it is partnering with the entertainment industry to help educate girls on “what images are real versus Hollywood magic.”
“Girls are increasingly looking to celebrities as their role models because they are widely celebrated in media and society,” stated Ann Kearney-Cooke, a licensed psychologist and distinguished scholar for the Partnership for Women’s Health at Columbia University. “Girls take away the message that these images represent a societal norm, and as a result punish themselves for not living up to impossible beauty ideals. The cycle continues to intensify as these perceived flawless images further inundate their world in overwhelming quantities.”
To help girls build self-esteem, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund is partnering with Step Up Women’s Network, a national non-profit membership organization dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls. Together, they will conduct self-esteem building workshops for girls.
During these events, celebrities, who are volunteering their time, and self-esteem experts will reveal secrets about the armies of stylists, makeup artists, photographers and staging and computer technicians behind-the-scenes who produce the big screen and cover shots.
The goal is to reach five million girls globally by 2010 with self-esteem building programming. There are several online resources that educate girls about Hollywood and media imagery as well as foster the development of self-esteem. Those who are interested can visit www.campaignforrealbeauty.com to use new self-esteem building tools, view behind-the-scenes footage from the Dove Self-Esteem Fund/Step Up workshops, talk to experts and watch “Onslaught.” Visits will also soon have the ability to get an inside look at how real girls deal with self-esteem issues in their real lives.
“Onslaught” is a viral film that dramatizes the barrage of images and messages girls face.