Dove has always been a leading force in the global movement toward body positivity. In an effort to push us all toward appreciating Real Beauty rather than some unattainable ideal, Dove recently made a video in which they asked several French women to write down every negative thought that they have about themselves—then, they hired actresses to actually say those negative things to one another in front of the women who originally wrote them down.
When the women heard those negative thoughts being said out loud, they realized that the things they said to criticize themselves sounded like bullying. And when each woman realized that the horrible things that the actresses were saying to each other were things that they told themselves regularly, they realized the damage that those words could do to their self-esteem.
Some of the insults that women wrote about themselves included “your face looks like a bulldog” and “sit up straight, otherwise your belly looks big.” The video, called #OneBeautifulThought, is one of many ways that Dove is working to encourage women to be kinder to themselves. The campaign asks, “If it’s not acceptable to say to someone else, why say it to ourselves?”