In celebration of Women’s Month, Dove is launching a film from the global brand, Dove: Legacy, which illustrates how important it is for women to see the beauty in themselves, so that they can pass those positive feelings on to the girls in their lives.
Clinical psychologist, Dr. Colinda Linde, shares 11 things you can do to help your daughter with self-esteem when it comes to her body.
- You can choose the body image legacy you leave for your daughter, by actively choosing your relationship with your own body.
- The positive can be passed down just as easily as the negative; influence goes both ways.
- How I treat my body today – how I feed it, dress it, move it, talk about it- has a profound effect on how my daughter will treat her own body in the future.
- She is watching and listening; when I see myself in the mirror, when I talk about my body, am I sending out a message of self-acceptance or disappointment? She will model her own conversations with her body and beauty, on what I demonstrate in my daily actions.
- How she feels about the way she looks, has a direct effect on how she feels about who she is.
- Make your daughter media literate. Watch TV or read a magazine with her and talk about what you see. Help her gently to develop a critical eye, to be able to filter and decode media messages.
- Steer clear of competition with other mothers about how either you, they, or any of your daughters look. Celebrate uniqueness.
- Shift away from talk that disparages other girls’ looks, whether it’s you, your daughter or others who have fallen into this trap. Even if the person never hears what was said, it’s not a good idea to get into the comparison habit. If girls hear nasty comparisons being made behind others’ backs, they will wonder who is talking about them in the same way! This all leads to insecurity.
- Challenge yourself to match every compliment you give about your daughter’s appearance with at least two compliments about something non-appearance based, and do the same for other girls who cross your path—your daughter’s friends, nieces, etc.
- Help her build skills that are independent of appearance. Get her involved in activities that build a sense of confidence, rather than focusing on looking good and acquiring things. Sports, theatre, music, art- anything that can help girls express themselves through words or creativity or activity rather than through their appearance or what they’re carrying around.
- Talk about the aspects of yourself you genuinely feel good about – the way a scarf makes your eye colour pop, a job you know you are good at, when you feel good about having fixed or learnt something.
