Negative body and beauty image harmful to self-expression, pursuit of career or education TORONTO, April 12 /CNW/ - A groundbreaking global study of women in tencountries has found celebrities and media have less impact on a young woman'sdefinition of beauty than their own mother. The study, commissioned by the Dove Self Esteem Fund, suggests mothersand friends can play a powerful role in nurturing a positive beauty and bodyimage among young women. The study also found that women, who have a negativeimage of their own beauty, are more likely to have poor self-esteem, which candiscourage them from expressing an opinion or pursuing a career or education. The research is the inspiration behind Beyond Stereotypes: Rebuilding theFoundation of Beauty Beliefs, a new research paper developed in consultationwith Dr. Nancy Etcoff of Harvard University and Dr. Susie Orbach of the LondonSchool of Economics. Early influencers - beauty and body image Globally, women were most likely to say female role models, includinggirlfriends (34 per cent) and mothers (27 per cent) had the most influence ontheir earliest feelings about beauty and body image, ahead of the media(19 per cent) including television, magazines and the Internet or celebrities(10 per cent). Younger women (ages 15-17) were even more likely to name girlfriends(41 per cent) and moms (30 per cent) as primary shapers of attitudessurrounding beauty and body image. Men in general (five per cent), fathers(seven per cent), or romantic partners (15 per cent) play a far lesser role inshaping these attitudes. Body image, self-esteem and behaviour One of the most revealing aspects of the study is how beauty self-imageand feelings about physical appearance are directly affecting attitudes andbehaviour, suggesting a need for more active positive role models. The studyfound that an extraordinarily high number (92 per cent) of young women saythey want to change some aspect of their physical appearance. The study suggests a strong link between satisfaction with one'sappearance and self-esteem. For instance, women who say they have lowself-esteem are also far more likely (50 per cent) to be dissatisfied withtheir overall physical appearance than women with high self-esteem (15 percent). Dissatisfaction with physical appearance and low self-esteem are causingwomen to avoid activities such as: > Re-shaping foundations The study's examination of mother-daughter attitudes and discussionssurrounding beauty and self-image suggests mothers can have a strong impact inhelping build a foundation for a positive more inclusive sense of beauty: > Tools for fostering self-esteem Mothers and friends, who are in a position to act as positive rolemodels, can get help in discussing self-esteem and beauty image issues withyoung women. The Dove Self Esteem Fund (www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/dsef) hasdeveloped the Real Beauty Self-Esteem Resource Centre with information andlearning tools for girls, parents, teachers and mentors that help empowerwomen and girls to embrace a broad definition of beauty. In the coming months Dove will be announcing additional initiatives,including community workshop and educator's kits, to assist in the mentoringof young women to help them live free from beauty stereotypes. Canadian perspective While Canadian women participating in the study were unlikely to expressattitudes far out of range with the global average, there were areas whereresponses from Canadian women stood out: > Beyond Stereotypes study The Dove Self-Esteem Fund commissioned the Beyond Stereotypes study toaddress the need for global literature and insights into factors influencingself-esteem and self-expression in women. Research firm StrategyOne conductedthe research, in collaboration with Dr. Nancy Etcoff of Harvard University,with the expert consultation of Dr. Susie Orbach of the London School ofEconomics. The study is based on quantitative data collected from a global survey of3,300 women (ages 15-64) in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Italy,Germany, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

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