Janet Kestin Defines Real Beauty
at Peel Fundraiser
For Interim Place
"Her Life, Her Words"

Brampton - Since the inception of the Interim Place Outstanding Luncheon Speaker Series in 2003, their mandate has been to support their programs by showcasing women whose lives and work reflect their commitment to issues that are important to women and their communities – women whose words provide the inspiration for a positive social change.

Janet Kestin could lead the pack of women who have made a difference.  Janet Kestin, Co-Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather (Toronto) is the driving force behind the innovative Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. She drew a full house of over 150 on June 10 at this year's 2^nd "Her Life, Her Words" Luncheon Speaker Series for Interim Place.

Along with her partner at Ogilvy & Mather, one of the country's leading advertising agencies, she launched Evolution and Onslaught on YouTube which drew 7 million views to that website as part of Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty.

Cindy Cowan, Executive Director of Interim Place, says "Ms. Kestin is an icon in the advertising field and her contribution to the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has helped raise the important social and health issues for women in examining body image and beauty".

Ms. Kestin started her presentation with a punch by accompanying her talk with a presentation called 'A More Beautiful World – Brought to You by Dove'. But this was no ordinary presentation…

A series of three short videos, produced by Kestin, were shocking, amazing and thought provoking. They all carried the same message – real beauty is a myth, manufactured by the media and it's one that women of all ages, especially young girls, are buying into.

Kestin cited statistics from Dove's Global Study on Women, Beauty and Well-Being In September 2004 titled "THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT BEAUTY: A GLOBAL REPORT". The findings are shocking and sad -- only 2% of women around the world choose beautiful to describe their looks. Despite mostly categorizing themselves as "average" on beauty and physical attractiveness, almost half of all women (47%) rate their body weight as "too high" – a trend that increases with age. This is particularly the case in the U.S. (60%), Great Britain (57%) and Canada (54%).

"Women, and more importantly girls, buy into the myth", says Kestin. One video shows an 8 year old girl saying 'I want to be skinny". Another young girl says "I've been ugly since I was 3 or 4". Another says, "When I lost weight in grade 9, I suddenly had friends". Following these comments, the screen goes black and then a single line appears "Things won't change until we change them".

"The Campaign for Real Beauty is 4 years old. We've had lots of press, impact, feedback, but what has it really meant? The truth is, I've had a love-hate relationship with what I do. But the campaign generated the Dove Self Esteem Fund which creates online resources and tools for schools and therapists and so now I'm doing work that really matters to me", says Kestin.

She discovered that "even privileged kids, 8 to 12 year old daughters of execs at Unilver (the manufacturer of Dove products) thought they all had faults" Following a second film, the black screen petitions us "Let's make peace with beauty".

One year after Onslaught & Evolution was produced, 500 million people had viewed it. "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted. But the pages and pages of ensuing dialogue that it created have become a massively important subject. It's an important issue for teachers also because of the young girls they teach:

Kestin denies any conflict of interest between the Campaign and the products. "Yes we are trying to sell something, but we're doing it with a healthy portion of self esteem. All magazines and most TV shows feature only women under 45. This is the age when women start to love themselves more, have more freedoms, than their younger sisters. And just as a woman reaches this age, society throws them on the scrap heap".

The presentation turned next to a play called Body and Soul, sponsored by Dove, which ran from May 10 to May 17 this year in Toronto. An unusual offering, the play's actors were ordinary women, aged 45 to 78, and the play explored "how, as the body ages, the soul blooms with brilliance; the beauty of the soul shines through the aging face and body if we can only train our eyes to see it".  Every performance was sold out. When she first saw the play, Kestin says "Although I felt like I hadn't lived up to what I wanted to do with the Campaign, when I saw the women in this play, I had an 'AHA' moment and knew that I was achieving my goals. This is not just a play, it's a Pro-Age Revolution".

The final short video was titled 'It's Time' and spoke to "the need now for society to change its perceptions to how women already feel", said Kestin. "A template is being created so that real women can act their age".

There is still one upcoming "Her Life, Her Words" luncheon. On June 26 the speaker will be Susan Aglukark; a three-time Juno award winner who never strays far from her roots in Arctic Canada. Now a leading voice in Canadian music, she captivates and inspires listeners from all walks of life.

brampton.com is proud to be a media sponsor of this event, to support Interim Place and their goal of ending violence against women through responsive, accessible services, and to address conditions that create violence in the lives of women and children throughout Peel Region.

For tickets to the remaining "Her Life, Her Words" luncheons, visit www.herlifeherwords.com and to access Interim Place services visit www.interimplace.com or phone 905 403 9691.