Edinburgh Guides are tackling the body myth head on by holding an exhibition of portraits of themselves this Sunday (7 June 2015). The girls hope to champion a positive body image.
The show, at the city’s Corstorphine Heritage Centre, has been created by the 73rd City of Edinburgh Guides with support from local photographer Anneleen Lindsay.
The Guides decided to create the project as part of working towards their Free Being Me badge, created by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and the Dove Self Esteem Project, which aims to help girls around the world develop self-esteem and body confidence. It uses fun activities to encourage girls to challenge the beauty myth and celebrate their individuality.
The girls worked with Anneleen to design their own portraits that would reflect who they are as individuals and members of Girlguiding Scotland.
The girls have invited local Brownie units to come along in the hope that they can inspire a younger generation to work together to have confidence to be themselves, too.
Guides Kaci Douglas and Holly Rodger age 14 have written:
“We’ve created this photo exhibition to help other people understand what we‘ve learned – that beauty within is more important than what you look like on the outside.
“There is too much pressure on girls to look a certain way in today’s society – our message is that everyone is beautiful in their own way.
“Doing our ‘Free Being Me’ badge has helped us to expose the beauty myth for what it is and learn that there’s far more to life than conforming.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
