Real Girls, Real Pressure

Self-esteem has become a national crisis. Many little girls have a negative image about their body. They are disturbed and depressed by the way they feel about their body, looks, performance in school and relationships. Many self-hate themselves. These negativity pull down their self-esteem very much. So they start engaging in harmful and destructive behavior that can leave a lasting imprint on their lives.


Most common dangerous behaviors of girls with low self esteem:

• Eating disorder – starving, refusing to eat or over-eating and throwing up when feeling badly about themselves
• Bullying
• Smoking or drinking
• Talking badly about themselves
• Injuring themselves

Young girls need proper guidance and support.

The good news is that if parents and other role models are willing to create a steady conversation of encouragement, honesty and openness it can definitely help girls gain confidence and reach their full potential.

If we spend time giving girls new ways to think about beauty, body image and self-esteem it can make a real difference.

Dove is helping us parent to take our first step towards it. Dove has developed a program to provide the resources necessary to create positive change and ensure the next generation of young women grows up feeling good about themselves and appreciating their own unique beauty.

To ensure everyone has access to self-esteem resources, Dove has developed a range of powerful online tools, workbooks and facilitator training guides.

You can visit www.campaignforrealbeauty.com to download free self-esteem building tools for girls, moms and mentors including:

• True You and Mirror, Mirror booklets
• Interactive exercises
• Workshop Facilitator Guide DVD

I appreciate Dove’s every effort to pump up the self-esteem of our little girls.


For supporting this cause, Dove presented me 2 wonderful books

1.Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds From Now by Jessica Weiner


2.Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters by Courtney E.Martin

I am very honored as ever when I wear Dove’s gift T-shirt which says

“ you’re beautiful
pass it on”

It makes me keep my head held high to know I am doing my duty perfectly to bring up future little ladies brimming with self-confidence and courage…..


I have done mine, do visit www.campaignforrealbeauty.com and do your part too, as a fellow Mummy of Gals…

More on violence against Women...

Hereby, I have attached an exclusive videos of Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman speaking about the UNIFEM’s Say NO To Violence Against Women campaign.



If you haven't signed in your name yet, you can do so by clicking here.

Each day, each hour, each minute, a woman in the world is a victim of violence.

Imagine a world without violence against women. Test your knowledge on how different that world would be by taking our quiz.

1. According to a United Nations report, how many women worldwide have experienced violence in their lives?
1. 1 out of every 3 women
2. 1 out of every 5 women
3. 1 out of every 10 women

ANSWER: (a) 1 out of every 3 women -- At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime — with the abuser usually someone known to her. Perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today, it devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development.

2. What percentage of women who die by homicide are killed by a former or current husband or partner?
1. 20%
2. 50%
3. 70%

ANSWER: (b) 50% -- Based on several surveys from around the world, half of the women who die from homicides are killed by their current or former husbands or partners. Women are killed by people they know and die from gun violence, beatings and burns, among numerous other forms of abuse

3. In the United States, a 2003 report estimated that the direct costs of intimate partner violence were:
1. $900 million
2. $1.6 billion
3. $5.8 billion

ANSWER: (c) $5.8 billion -- A 2003 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the costs of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceed US$5.8 billion per year: US$4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly US$1.8 billion. Violence against women impoverishes individuals, families and communities, reducing the economic development of each nation

4. Which of these risk factors, for women aged 15 to 44 years, rates higher than rape and domestic violence?
1. Cancer
2. War
3. None rated higher

ANSWER: (c) None rated higher -- For women aged 15 to 44 years, violence is a major cause of death and disability. In a 1994 study based on World Bank data about ten selected risk factors facing women in this age group, rape and domestic violence rated higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria

5. In a clinic in Zambia, how many HIV-positive women opt out of treatment due to fears of violence?
1. 20%
2. 30%
3. 60%

ANSWER: (c) 60% -- For many women, the fear of violence prevents them from declaring their HIV-positive status and seeking help and treatment. A clinic in Zambia reported that 60 percent of eligible women opt out of treatment due to fears of violence and abandonment. In 1998 Gugu Dhlamini was stoned to death by men in her community in South Africa after she declared her HIV-positive status on radio and television on World AIDS Day.

Respect Women !!!

Say No to Violence Against Women

As many as one in three women and girls will be beaten or otherwise abused in their lifetime. This must be stopped.

Say No to Violence Against Women is a signature campaign to increase an awareness and take an action against violence.

Support this ever-growing movement and sign in your name, so that we can count on you !!!

"The Women" Review

The Women is one movie of a rare kind. It is for women acted full and full by women. It would steal the hearts of all women. Every woman would definitely relate to any particular character in the movie. The storyline and the characterization are handled very well.

It is basically about friendship interwoven with all emotions. Mary is the lead role in the film. Meg Ryan has lived as Mary. Her performance is simply flawless.

Story – There are 4 close friends – Mary, Sylvie, Alex and Edie. Mary, the heroine is a fashion designer, wife of a famous Wall Street stockbroker, Steven Haines. Sylvie is a fashion magazine editor. Alex is an essayist while Edie plays as a caring mom in her fifth pregnancy.

These 4 friends meet, greet, gossip and share their emotions. They have a long time friendship. Mary works as a fashion designer for her father as well as devotes herself to family, cooking, gardening and charity works.

Mary invites her friends for a benefit luncheon. On the way to Mary’s house, Sylvie gets her manicure done at Saks. While trying to keep her client entertained, the manicurist tells about an affair between the perfume salesgirl and a Wall Street big shot which happens to be Mary’s husband.

Sylvie gets really disturbed to know about this. She is confused with emotional conflict whether to tell or not to tell Mary about this affair. Finally she lets it out to Edie and eventually to Alex. Somehow Mary also comes to know about this through the same manicurist by a twist of events.

Mary seeks her mom for help. Her mom sounds very knowledgeable and practical. She advises to get away from Steven for a while and make him think Mary is doing something incredibly interesting without him. So she invites Mary and her daughter Molly to her cottage.

Mary decides to brush it under the carpet and act to Steven as if nothing happened. But it doesn’t take long for the situation to go out of hand and they part. Mary laments and starts hating herself. Sylvie also betrays Mary in a career threatening situation. Mary feels so lost…

The way she overcomes these choking hardships and comes out in flying colors is the rest of the story…..

Several scenes are handled very realistically in the film. The friends meeting the perfume girl in Saks, cat fight in the lingerie store, graphic illustration of window shopping, Mary’s dialogue while eating butter dipped in cocoa powder, one on one conversation between Sylvie and the little girl are noteworthy.

Some lines are catchy – “I want a Pill to make love go away!”,” I am the man I want to marry “,”Florists and manicurist know everything”.

Overall it was an emotional comedy drama. Thanks to Dove for sponsoring 2 movie tickets to “The Women”. Dove has sponsored a gift bag with beauty products to encourage our support for its noble cause.

The bag is in brown color. Brown is all moms’ favorite color. Whites attract dirt just like magnet, black is too common, bored of seeing pink all the time on daughters, green, yellow and orange are very seasonal, light colors invite stains…….So moms love brown.

Dove has understood moms’ choice well. The bag matches well with my favorite outfits.

I have added the new products to my already stocked up Dove beauties……

Thanks Dove.

The Women

Today's post is about yet another wonderful venture of Dove. Regular readers of my blog must be knowing well about the Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty.

THE WOMEN

The Women is a fast-paced, witty and emotional look at all things female, including loyalties, betrayals, careers, families and most of all, friendships. A remake of the 1939 classic film, The Women features an all-female cast of distinguished actresses.

THE WOMEN BEHIND “THE WOMEN”

Dove worked with film director Diane English to create a short film called The Women Behind “The Women.” This short film follows 16-year-old teen journalist Cammy Nelson behind-the-scenes of The Women to learn, first-hand, how Hollywood creates the images we see on screen, highlighting the work and people involved in making a major motion picture come to life.

Visit Dove.com to :

1. View exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of “The Women” & The Women Behind “The Women”

2. Watch the exclusive mini documentary The Women Behind “The Women”

3. Read the Director’s Diary by Diane English

4. Go behind-the-scenes with teen journalist Cammy Nelson

5. Download self-esteem building tools for girls, moms and mentors

6. Enter for a chance to win one of 100 pairs of movie tickets per day between 9/3 and 9/19

For taking part in the beauty campaign and writing about it my blog, I was gifted with wonderful Dove Gift bag with beauty products and movie tickets to "The Women". Eager to have a look at the bag and review of the film.......Keep waiting...More photos of it in the next post.....

Under Pressure

Under Pressure

Girls today are under more pressure than ever.

They want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance.

The books, magazines, TV shows, commercials show them the fake made up beauty. Young girls are forced to make-believe the “Picture Perfect Beauty”. Actually there is nothing like a “Perfect Beauty”.

After all, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. It’s the high self-esteem and confidence that carry & present out the beauty in anybody. Isn’t it?

Long hair or short hair, dark skin tone or fair, with braces or specks, with pimples or freckles…..it doesn’t matter. What matters most is what you think you are. Do young girls today think they are beautiful? Sadly, a majority don’t. They relate beauty with the cute looking fairies, flawless princess or gorgeous thin tall super models or actress with full make-ups. Is this what beauty is all about?

Come on, wait a second and take a look at this clipping.

Is this the beauty our young girls yearn for?

We parents should join hands with Dove to support it in its campaign for Real Beauty.

Keep building up the self-esteem and confidence of our dear daughters!!!

Save Mother Earth for our Kids

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle !!!

Repaid as Diaper

Diaper backward spells Repaid.

I am using the same quote that I used in LUVs Diaper review, a few months ago. I am being repaid as Diaper for all my passion as a Mom Blogger. Thanks for your great support; I’ve been asked to work on a new Luvs Campaign.

Luvs, a trusted name in baby care, provides parents and caregivers with diapers that offers premium leakage protection for less than the pricey brands – which is important in today’s tougher economic environment.

Many families across the country are more financially conscious than ever.

So Luvs has partnered with mom-comedienne, author and overnight internet video sensation, Anita Renfroe.

Yes, she is the one I wrote about in my Previous Post – Humor Soup to Mother’s Soul.

Some would say she just says what everyone else is thinking, but won't say out loud. "I'd rather people laugh because they relate to something I say than because I wrote a clever punch-line" Anita says. "All my stuff is about my life – it's real and it connects people - and that's a wonderful thing."

Come on Moms!
Let us brave the time without losing
our Minds, Wallets or our Sense of Humor.

Millions of people have viewed & enjoyed the MomSense song. Now we are eagerly waiting for her new song. Renfroe is to unveil her latest comedic song and video – a sequel to the original “Mom-sense”. It is available to view or download at Luvs.com starting June 25.

The good news is, as a “Mummy of Gals” reader, 3 great offers are waiting for you :

1. You are privileged to take an exclusive sneak-peak of the video right now.
2. You get exclusive $ 5 off coupon on Luvs Diaper. You can visit Luvs.com website on June 25 to avail this offer. Hurry, coupons are limited and they won’t last long.
3. Tell us in the comment section, what your favorite verse is in the new Anita Renfroe video? You would win a pack of Luvs Diaper featuring Bear Hug Stretch.

Say Yes to Ultra Leak Protection.
Say No to Pricey Diapers.
Choose LUVs.

Make the new Luvs Campaign a big Success.

Humor Soup for Mother's Soul

Busy with the 1001 chores that need to be completed……a Mom forgets one very important thing. Yes, she forgets to laugh. She forgets to laugh her heart out.

Maybe hardly she gets a good reason to laugh. Of course, she smiles for the baby’s milestone crosses, kid’s A+ and trophies. But how long has it been that she laughed out loud & light-heartedly without any stress? Looonnnnggggggg time ago.

Here is a video with which Moms can relate very much and laugh out hilariously!

Anita Renfroe was a plain stay at home mom, just like you & me. This is her venture to put all that every mom says in one 24-hr period in a less than 3 min song “Mom Sense”. Here are the phrases every mother has heard herself say before!

It sometimes feels good to laugh at ourselves.