Friday, October 22, 2010

Self-Esteem Weekend Kicks Off Today!

From Friday, October 22, through Sunday, October 24, Girl Scouts of the USA and Dove invite all girls to participate in the Dove Self-Esteem Weekend. The Dove Self-Esteem weekend, is part of the Dove Movement for Self-Esteem that encourages women and girls to create a world in which beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety. Among the many influential women showing their support by sharing their messages of inspiration are Katie Couric, Abigail Breslin, Lea Michele, and newly appointed Dove Movement for Self-Esteem Youth Ambassador, Katherine Schwarzenegger.

Girl Scouts of the USA and Dove encourage women everywhere to commit to spending one hour on a self-esteem building activity with a girl in their lives during the Dove Self-Esteem Weekend. One hour spent engaging a girl in a conversation about self-esteem is a meaningful start to help change her perception of herself and ultimately form a positive relationship with beauty. Women will show how amazing things can happen when they come together by registering their weekend activities on the interactive Dove Self-Esteem Weekend Map on dovemovement.com. The map will serve as a visual representation of support for this cause, and can also be used to locate activities open to the public. Girl Scout councils nationwide are participating in the weekend and building girls’ self-esteem through a variety of activities that can be found on the online tool kit on dovemovement.com.

Girl Scouts of the USA and Dove partner to deliver Girl Scout Leadership journey programming to millions of girls nationwide. A Girl Scout leadership journey invites girls to explore a theme through many experiences and from many perspectives to build leadership skills and confidence. Each Girl Scout journey features a book for girls and a guide for the adults who partner with the girls.

The newest Girl Scout leadership journey It's Your Story—Tell It!, which will be released in December 2010, uses a storytelling theme in a fun and relevant way for girls to better understand themselves and their potential. Building a strong sense of self is an underlying goal of the series, which was made possible in part by a generous grant from Dove. With this exciting new program, Dove and Girl Scouts of the USA aim to address the all too frequent incidence of low self-esteem among adolescent and pre-adolescent girls.

In addition to other important areas for girls, It’s Your Story - Tell It! addresses media literacy, body image, and critical thinking about the portrayal of girls and women in the media. Activities and discussions that get girls to think critically about the media, including its portrayal of girls and women, are woven into each grade-level journey with a variety of goals. At the youngest grade levels, the aim is to get girls to understand marketing tactics for young consumers. As the girls get older, the focus shifts to the limited roles and opportunities that media gives women and girls, and the narrow definition of beauty that media displays. At the highest grade levels, the girls consider the portrayals of relationships between girls and women.
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