Dove and the Butterfly Foundation join forces to #DetoxYourFeed
Dove has partnered with the Butterfly Foundation to combat toxic social media trends affecting young girls’ self esteem, with ambassador Melissa Doyle encouraging girls to #DetoxYourFeed.
The announcement:
New research from the Dove Self-Esteem Project has revealed the startling impact of idealised beauty content on social media, with almost half (46%) of young girls in Australia admitting they have undertaken at least one beauty procedure, such as tanning (19%), teeth whitening (20%), and eyelash extensions (15%) as a result of toxic influencer advice. Some young girls have taken even more drastic measures such as injecting botox, lip-fillers, and skin bleaching or lightening to achieve the ‘perfect look’ or to look like someone else.
Shockingly, the study reveals that 52% of young girls constantly check how they look in photos and wish they looked better, while 48% said they often wish they looked like someone else. Furthermore, 54% of young Australian girls said toxic and potentially harmful beauty advice from social media influencers, such as filing down teeth for the perfect smile or using waist trainers to slim down, causes low self-esteem.
With 60% of young girls in Australia stating they wished they had information about how to avoid or deal with idealised beauty content, Dove has launched its #DetoxYourFeed campaign, to raise awareness of the impact of toxic beauty advice on social media, and equip young people, parents and caregivers with practical tools focussed on action and advice.
Dr Hannah Jarman, researcher in body image and social media and Dove’s campaign expert shares: “Social media has become a normal part of life for many people, but this is especially true for young girls. While social media can be beneficial for some, the research suggests that it can also be quite harmful.”
“Social media is often filled with ‘beautiful’ people living their ‘perfect’ lives and research tells us that the more we see this type of content, the more likely we are to compare ourselves. Unsurprisingly, these comparisons cause girls to feel worse about themselves in a range of areas, from their appearance to their social life. Given the majority of young people use social media, it’s essential that something is done to start to address this issue.”
TV personality and mum, Melissa Doyle has partnered with Dove as campaign ambassador to share the importance of helping young girls to detoxify their social media feeds and encourage other parents to do the same with their children, spreading awareness around the dangerous steps young girls are taking in order to achieve the ‘perfect look’.
“Partnering with Dove on their #DetoxYourFeed campaign was a no brainer for me. These days everyone is worried about how they look on social media which is affecting those who are most vulnerable and susceptible to toxic information, our daughters. It’s important for parents and caregivers to educate themselves on how to have the conversation with their children, utilising the tools available to them to make a positive and healthy impact.”
As 66% of young Aussie girls feel parents, carers and family members should be responsible for making them feel confident to use social media, Dove has collaborated with leading self-esteem expert Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs to develop a four-step guide on how to talk to kids about toxic beauty advice.
1. Prep
Young girls would love for their parents to talk to them about how to manage idealised beauty content. Spend some time on popular social platforms and familiarise yourself with built-in safety functions and have a discussion with your kids.
2. Chat
Discuss those pieces of idealised beauty content by finding examples for your kids like searching for hashtags on Tik Tok or Instagram and ask what they think about the impact the content could have on young people’s idea of beauty and self-esteem.
3. Detox
Spend 10 minutes together scrolling through their social media feed, showing them how to hide, unfollow or click not interested on accounts that make them feel bad.
4. Repeat
To encourage new habits, speak to other parents, mentors, and guardians to discuss ways to help and encourage weekly social media feed tune ups.
Dove is proud to continue its partnership with The Butterfly Foundation, a national charity that provides support for those with eating disorders and body image issues. Dove and The Butterfly Foundation have been working together for 17 years, providing evidence-based resources to school-aged children to help them learn how to overcome appearance pressures, and provide tools to improve body confidence . Under the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the Butterfly Foundation developed the Confident Me workshop to help young girls to navigate the challenges of social media.
Butterfly Foundation’s head of prevention, Danni Rowlands shares: “We recognise the significant and too often negative, impact of social media on young people and how it invites unhelpful body comparisons, can increase body dissatisfaction and lower self-esteem, which can drive obsessive grooming practices, and restrictive eating, and exercise behaviours. By supporting young people to strengthen their social media literacy skills and encouraging help-seeking, our programs aim to empower young people so that their experience with social media is a more positive and safer one.”
To further help parents on this journey, Dove also offers the Confidence Kit, which is available for download on the Dove website. The Confidence Kit is a free online tool designed to empower parents and carers to understand the challenges that young people face online, learn about how to curate a positive, diverse social feed and start conversations like the #SelfieTalk which provides tips on how to make social media a healthy place.
Christine Weatherby, Dove marketing manager Australia shares: “It is our mission to empower young people to define their own beauty standards and not feel pressure to look like someone they see on social media. Sadly, our research uncovered that 1 in 2 Aussie girls follow influencers that make them feel less confident about themselves, showcasing the impact of toxic beauty advice on self-esteem. We want to arm parents, carers and educators with the tools they need to encourage young people to develop and maintain a healthy body image during the transition to adulthood.”
It has never been more important than now to have this conversation with one another and help detox children’s feed. For more information on how to download the Dove Body Confidence Kit and view the campaign film, visit Dove’s website at https://www.dove.com/au/stories/campaigns/detoxify.html.
Sources from a representative sample of girls in Australia and New Zealand, aged 10-17 [Australians: 255; Kiwis: 168], All Girls (n=423).
Source: Forward Agency
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Christine Weatherby
Danni Rowlands
DetoxYourFeed
Dove
Dove Confidence Kit
Dove Self-Esteem Project
Dr Hannah Jarman
Dr Phillippa Diedrichs
Melissa Doyle
The Butterfly Foundation
young girls
