Did you know that seven out of ten girls don’t feel they’re good enough or measure up to their peers?  And that 71% of girls feel they aren’t pretty enough or skinny enough?  The first time I remember being concerned about my appearance was probably in middle school.  That was when I entered the “awkward phase.”  I was way taller than all the boys, started seeing physical changes in my body and begin to ask myself “am I pretty?”

18 years later times have certainly changed.  In today’s society girls are growing up faster, and girls as young as first grade are reportedly struggling with body image and a distorted perception of beauty.  In my opinion a large part of this is due to what they see in the media.  I want you to take a look at this attached video from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty.

The first time I saw this video was at a shoot we were on about two years ago.  The video literally took my breath away.  All I could think about was that smiling little girl could easily be my three year old daughter Sophia.  It made me sick to my stomach to think that girls that young are affected by these issues.

The other morning Sophia was getting dressed and she turned to me and said, “Mom, do I look pretty today?”  In that moment my eyes began to well up with tears and I gave her a big hug and said “of course you do.”  The Dove video that I had seen two years earlier immediately popped into my head.  Sadly, I know that she won’t always feel pretty and the messages surrounding her will tell her she’s not good enough, so it’s my job as a mom to tell her otherwise.

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty has an entire section on their website with helpful teaching tools for moms and mentors.  It empowers moms to talk with their daughters about what real beauty is and gives practical advice on ways to foster a healthy self-esteem and body image.  I encourage moms to check the website out and let me know your thoughts on this issue.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/luschei/1075353190/