Thank you to Dove for sponsoring this post and inspiring little girls and women everywhere to love themselves and feel beautiful! Visit Dove at Sam’s Club and watch how four generations of women have used Dove to shape their family’s #BeautyStory and then share yours.
I usually don’t talk about my kids much on Busy Mommy because their lives and stories are theirs to share. I do feel it’s important to share that 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful and only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (Dove Research: The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited). The added layer of growing up with parents and relatives who aren’t the same race as you can only add more insecurities. I recognize this and think it’s important to talk about.
I asked Priscilla if I could post this picture and she says “Sure, I look like Tiana!” This reminds me of a moment about a year ago when she put a headband on before school, looked in the mirror, nodded with approval and said “yep!” I hope she keeps this confidence, but I know the pressure to be beautiful only increases with age and those tween and teen years can be brutal.
Dove’s Real Beauty campaigns have been a much needed boost to women and girls around the world. Featuring different shapes, sizes and colors is inspiring women to feel comfortable in their own skin. The recent Love Your Curls campaign that I wrote about was a campaign to inspire curly girls to love their hair.
This #BeautyStory campaign is to honor the women in your life who have shaped your beauty story and by passing on beauty traditions and life lessons to the next generation.
What beauty traditions and life lessons can I pass on to my daughter?
I hope that I can continue to inspire Priscilla to love herself and feel she is beautiful. I can learn how to properly care for her hair, surround her with toys, books and media that feature reflections of herself, but I know I have limitations beyond my control simply because I am a white mom raising a child of color. She needs other mentors, friends and role models that she can relate to on the level I can’t.
As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.
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