Since we have started high school, anxiety and body image have come up often. It’s talked about at school, on television and online. The anxiety we have about our appearance can hold females back from reaching their fullest potential. As this is an ongoing problem, young girls our age should support and look out for each other and not bring each other down.
Take me for example, Gabbie, for homecoming, I bought this dress that was big, and poofy, and bright. Even though I really liked the dress, I was nervous about wearing it and I started to feel self-conscious about wearing something so loud. I asked my friends for their opinion, and all they could say was, “I love it, and it’s very ‘Gabbie’.” As soon as I put it on, it made me feel just great and like a little princess. Sometimes something as simple as your friends making a nice comment can really brighten up your day and make you feel good about yourself, as it did me.
It is imperative that we feel beautiful and proud of who we are. Only 11% of girls from ages 10 to 17 are comfortable using the word beautiful to describe themselves. To get a better understanding of this statistic, we can think about it this way. In a room of ten women, only 1.1 of the women feel good about themselves. That is barely one person. The amazing thing is, that we can change this. As young women, we should all try to say nice things to each other and treat each other kindly while we are at school or online. Of course it’s difficult for some people, but it really makes a difference. A simple thing, like starting a conversation about beauty can make a huge difference.
For this reason exactly was why we were so interested in this opportunity to work with Dove and Latina Bloggers Connect. The Dove Movement for self-esteem open up a world of opportunities for women everywhere to make a difference. “Let’s talk” is the theme of the third annual Dove Self-Esteem Weekend. This weekend is a kick-off event in New York and is set to spark a national conversation. This spark can ignite an endless movement. Dove is inviting women across the U.S. to participate in the Dove Self-Esteem Weekend, taking place October 5-7 nationwide.
You should visit Vive Mejor to access free tools to motivate and inspire a girl in your life. You can visit this link for Vive Mejor’s Let’s Talk information. Dove has reached over 9 million girls with self-esteem programming so far and with your help we can reach our goal of 15 million by 2015. With your help, we can all reach this goal by the time we graduate. We hope you can all be a part of this movement, and talk.
*Even though we are being compensated for this, we feel passionate about this regardless and were extremely excited to be given this opportunity.*
-Gabbie & Kirstin
Cable Cars and Cornflakes 