Dove is back with a bold new video to fuel the self-love/body positivity movement.

And it may just be the brand’s best one to date.

The My Beauty, My Say campaign highlights how women are still under perpetual scrutiny over their appearance. No matter what career path they take, they’re pressured to “look the part.”

According to Dove, almost half of women (45 per cent) globally feel judged by how they look. They feel constant pressure to conform to the ideas of what others think they should look like “for their age,” “as a mom,” or “for their job.”

To highlight this problem and inspire women everywhere to overcome the beauty limits holding them back, Dove has launched a powerful film that features stories of nine remarkable women, including three Canadians:

It’s the type of message you’ll want to send any young female in your life immediately.

The women include a burlesque dancer, a lawyer, a poet, a plus-size blogger, a genderqueer model and an eccentrically stylish older woman, among others. Despite their varied backgrounds, they all have one thing in common: they, like countless fellow females, have been challenged and overcame judgments. They have refused to allow judgments about their beauty and the way they look limit their achievements.

“Dove believes a woman’s beauty should be celebrated on her own terms, not the terms of others, which is the central message of My Beauty, My Say,” says Diane Laberge, Marketing Director at Unilever Canada. “Through the stories of the women profiled and our campaign, we want to give all women a platform to speak out against beauty limits.”

Elaine, of Toronto, speaks about being ridiculed for having a tooth gap. After receiving non-stop advice for “fixing” her teeth, she decided to make a video about why she is uniquely beautiful. She now creates inspiring content and encourages others to embrace their own differences through her blog.

Judith, of Montreal, is growing older on her terms, thank you very much. As a psychologist, she hasn’t changed the way she looks, her appearance, or bent to social norms associated with her profession or her age.

Marcia, a leading Montreal family lawyer and women’s issues volunteer, tells the age-old story of how she was often complimented on her looks and at times had to work harder to highlight her professional achievements. This has pushed her to succeed even further to become a leading member of the legal community.

Marcia’s story isn’t new. The Dove Global Beauty Confidence Report found three quarters (75 per cent) of Canadian women believe they get more compliments about how they look than for their professional achievements at work.

Even though eight in 10 Canadian women believe every woman has something about her that is beautiful, many still feel they are limited by their looks. For example, nine in 10 Canadian women admit to having opted out of important activities when they didn’t feel good about the way they looked.

I know I have, and I think this is the case for most of my girlfriends too. After watching the video, I am almost embarrassed to admit that.

If you want to join the dialogue yourself, share your story of overcoming beauty limits on social media with the hashtag #MyBeautyMySay.

Women can also learn more about the My Beauty, My Say campaign at Dove.ca.

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