I have a daughter who I love. I want her to be the best person she can be. I try not to be too hard on her, but I often fail and expect more than her almost five years can live up to. I am learning this parenting thing as I go along though. While she is growing up I want her to be confident and have great self esteem. I want her to be a leader.
Self Esteem Statistics
Dove® research shows that it is still important for us to address girls’ anxiety about looks, as there is a universal increase in beauty pressure and a decrease in girls’ confidence as they grow older. Key findings from our latest research include:
• Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (up from 2% in 2004)
• Only 11% of girls globally are comfortable using the word beautiful to describe themselves
• 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful
• 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful but do not see their own beauty
• More than half (54%) of women globally agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic
SOURCE: Dove Research: The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited
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10 Ways to Build Your Daughter’s Self Esteem
1. Constant reminders of her importance – daughters need to feel important. When they live in a home where they feel valued it is easier for them to grow up with a feeling of self worth.
2. Positive Reinforcements – when dealing with discipline and trying situations with your daughter don’t use negative words or put her down. Deal with the behavior and discipline using positive methods.
3. Open communication – keep the lines of communication open with your daughter. Don’t just talk either. Listen to her.
4. Be a good role model yourself – live the life of a confident woman. Show her who a strong woman is.
5. Show her beauty in all forms – expose your daughter to more than just the standard media definition of beauty. Share with her beauty in all forms, shapes, sizes and colors.
6. Ger her involved – find out what your daughter is interested in. What does she love? Ballet? Karate? Gymnastics Math? Music? Find out ways she can do the things she loves in your community.
7. Set aside bonding time – make a date night with your daughter. Do things she loves but also introduce her to new experiences and new foods. Let her teach you a new skill, or learn a new skill together.
8. Celebrate women who are in the news for more than their physical beauty. Smart, confident, strong women who are making a difference in the world are out there. Discuss those women. Make a scrapbook of these women even.
9. Volunteer with her – helping other people and stepping outside of comfort zones can help your daughter in so many ways.
10. Help her share with her friends and family – look for ways to educate friends and family about real beauty and true self worth. They say the best way to learn is to teach.
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Dove’s Self Esteem Mission
Dove® is committed to inspiring all women and girls to reach their full potential. The Dove® Movement for Self-Esteem invites all women to join us in creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety. We have reached more than 9 million girls so far and with your help we can reach our target of 15 million by 2015. This past October 5-7, Dove hosted the third annual Self-Esteem Weekend, a nationwide rally to talk about beauty, confidence and self-esteem with girls everywhere.
Each time you buy Dove®, you help us and our charitable partners provide inspiring self-esteem programming for girls. Dove supports partnerships with after-school programs, self-esteem building events and education resources.
I have realized by reading the personal stories from Dove and other Facebook fans that I must begin this education with my daughter now while she is still young and keep doing it. She is my responsibility and I want more for her! Intentional parenting is so important. With images being bombarded at her daily and the ever increasing global internet age she will grow up with so much more advertising being thrown at her. I need to do this. For her.
What are ways you build your daughter’s self esteem?
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*Thank you to Dove for sponsoring this discussion.
These are all great tips! Being a mother of 2 girls I am always trying to find ways to boost their self esteem. Great post!
Thank you Theresa. It is so important. Even now that I am a grown woman I still have moments of low self esteem. I appreciate you stopping by to comment!
This is so important. As a mom of teen girls, I try to tell them constantly how awesome they are. Seeing my own mother in an abusive relationship with my father was hard growing up. I knew I wanted to teach my girls that they were worth so much more. How awesome of Dove to do think it’s important, too. Thanks for this post.
Thank you for coming by and leaving such a meaningful comment. It is important and I am thankful to get a chance to share just a little bit about this Dove campaign. I just love Dove for their models of real beauty. I wish more companies did this!
Great tips!
Self-esteem is a vital characteristic for a healthy individual and an important development in growing up to be a contributing and productive member of society. Girls, in particular, have to be fostered through the process of developing a healthy self-esteem as they deal with body image and peer pressure. Several methods can be used to build and boost your daughter’s self-esteem.