Something happened at the Salon this week that emotionally affected everyone. It was both a sad acknowledgement of the world we now live in as well as an uplifting and beautiful testimony to the love and empathy that still exists within us all. The unfolding event was less about getting the perfect hair style than it was about shared feelings, self image and inner beauty. You can read about it on our Facebook page. We seem to live in a world now that is too commercialized, too focused on money, one that puts more value on outward appearances and ignores the inner beauty that exists with us all.
We want to share with you an article that Dove recently published on their website. It speaks to us all, about how the quest for profit through advertising influences our feelings of self image, causing us to devalue our own self worth, making us feel that we are never good enough, never beautiful enough. Here’s the article as it appears on Dove’s Website.
If someone asked you to describe yourself, what would you say? Our body image takes such a battering that feeling beautiful can be hard – sometimes we just can’t see beauty in ourselves at all. We think our self-esteem is in serious need of a boost.
The problem is, we’re so bombarded by unattainable standards of beauty – in magazines, TV, advertisements, on social media – that we undervalue the true beauty in ourselves. More than half of women globally agree that when it comes to how they look, they’re their own worst critic. Our perception of ourselves is far less positive than it should be. And since we know that feeling beautiful is the first step to living happier, more confident lives, we decided to do something about it.
That something was a daring new beauty experiment: Real Beauty Sketches. We asked women to describe themselves to FBI trained forensic artist Gil Zamora (from behind a mysterious curtain), who drew a portrait of them based on their description.
A random stranger was then asked to describe the same woman to Gil, to see how their description would differ. The result? Two completely different portraits. The one based on the stranger’s portrayal was more beautiful, happier and more accurate. It proved exactly what we suspected: that you’re more beautiful than you think. So to help inspire the millions of women around the world who don’t see their own beauty, we created a film showing the women’s reactions to their portraits, and the impact of their refreshed view of themselves.
If only the headlong rush of the world in the name of “progress” could only slow down again, to allow us to get to know each other again, to experience the beauty that still lies within us all.
There’s more to the article, including a film and interview. If you want to see the rest you can find it here:
