New Year’s is typically a time for reflection and personal growth, but for many millennial women, it can also bring heightened pressure from societal beauty standards and unrealistic expectations. This year, Dove is encouraging women to break free from those pressures by letting go of the ‘pursuit of perfect’ when crafting their New Year’s resolutions.
Dove encourages women to rethink New Year’s resolutions and release the ‘pursuit of perfection.’ The world’s leading self-esteem education provider, Dove recently conducted its largest-ever beauty study, the Real State of Beauty Report, revealing concerning trends among millennial women. According to the research, this generation has the lowest body confidence compared to previous ones and is grappling with health issues related to body image struggles.
The study also uncovered that 1 in 3 women would trade a year of their life for the ‘perfect’ body, while 69% admit to avoiding social events due to low body confidence. This issue becomes even more pronounced around the new year, with 50% of women making resolutions based on dissatisfaction with their bodies, often focusing on dieting, weight loss, and appearance improvements.
Women have long been exposed to unrealistic beauty pressures, frequently growing up with negative body image. To address this, Dove is launching its first-ever body confidence program for women, expanding on its long-standing commitment to fostering self-esteem among young people. Dove’s new initiative aims to help women embrace their bodies with confidence and authenticity.
The program, set to launch on January 1, 2025, will be available through an online learning experience on http://Dove.com . The science-backed content will focus on healing body image issues and rejecting harmful beauty ideals. Participants will explore four main topics:
- Healing the relationship with your body during times of intense societal pressure, like New Year’s.
- Understanding body confidence and how it manifests in your life.
- Identifying what influences body confidence and how societal expectations impact self-image.
- Defining beauty on your own terms.
Dove encourages women to rethink New Year’s resolutions and release the ‘pursuit of perfection’ by focusing on their happiness and embracing authentic beauty. “For 20 years, Dove has equipped young people with tools to improve their self-esteem, and now we’re expanding that focus to women who’ve grown up under the weight of unrealistic standards,” says Marcela Melero, Chief Growth Officer of Dove Personal Care North America and Dove Masterbrand. “Our goal is to support women in rejecting unattainable ideals and redefine beauty on their own terms.”
Dove is also inviting women to break free from limiting beauty standards by creating a #NewYearsUnresolution for 2025. Participants can write their resolution on a sticky note and tear it up, or use a digital sticky note on TikTok to share their pledge with their communities.
“Many women make resolutions focused on changing their bodies, but these goals often stem from society’s narrow beauty standards and are ultimately unfulfilling,” says Professor Phillippa Diedrichs, a body image expert at the Centre of Appearance Research at the University of West England. “Dove has long been a pioneer in redefining real beauty, and this new content series is a powerful invitation for women to break free from these cycles and redefine their relationship with their bodies.”
The Dove Self-Esteem Project has already reached over 114 million young people in 153 countries, promoting body confidence and self-esteem. Through its new program, Dove is committed to helping women of all generations build lasting confidence and a healthier relationship with their bodies.
