Props to the UK Girl Guides for bringing the organization into the 21st Century. The charity announced its new "free being me" body confidence badge, to help promote a healthy body image, in conjunction with Dove's self-esteem project.
According to an article in Metro, the Guides will offer courses designed to "unmask beauty myths, expose airbrushing and challenge unhealthy body talk," after findings revealed just how poorly girls perceive themselves.
Recent surveys by the Guides suggest that one in five girls in elementary school have been on a diet, while 38 per cent of girls between 11 and 21 admitted to skipping meals in order to lose weight.
The best part of the program is that it is peers, girls between 14 and 25, who will be leading their younger Guides and Brownies—some 400,000 of them—to change their thinking through inspiring posters, videos, and T-shirts.
To get the badge, girls have to spread the good word in their schools and communities.
The new badge sits well alongside those of community action, independent living, and world issues. (Guides have come a long way since awarding badges for homemaking and milking cows!)
What do you think of the new badge? Are the Guides still relevant today?
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