role models

Songstress-turned-humanitarian Mandy Moore’s entrance onstage at The Carlu on Tuesday night was a walk to remember. Dressed as conservatively as her character Jamie Sullivan, Mandy was an excellent host for Dove’s first ever live-streamed event.

Dove could’ve easily called for a dress code of “girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes” because the featured guests donned Dove’s colour scheme, and anyone in a LBD stood out. Complete with hors d’oeuvres, photo walls and mocktinis, Dove and its agency partners hosted a classy event for a good cause.

I’ve supported Dove’s self-esteem project for many years. In fact, I got into an argument with a professor last semester after she screened the Evolution and Fotoshop videos, mainly because Ben Barry’s speeches about how the concept came to life turned me into a brand advocate. That class helped me identify a conflict between my MIT and Women’s Studies programs: in media classes, Dove’s campaign has been discussed (and praised) ad nauseum, whereas in the Women’s Studies culture jamming class, discussing the benefits of the campaign from a business perspective was not a priority whatsoever.

Speaking of school, the honoured women reflected on their high school years and shared what young girls can do to achieve their goals. Spoken word artist Toni Blackman made a great comparison between internal and external confidence. She was a homecoming queen who climbed the social ladder, yet lacked self esteem inside, despite what her prom photos imply. Her recommendation is to “write out a plan and put that plan to action with determination and absolute focus.” Likewise, Fahima Osman admitted to being a nerd growing up who decorated her bedroom with A+’s to remind her of what she needed to do for medical school entry. Fahima is now a general surgeon and Canada’s first Canadian-trained Somali physician at that.

Inspired by the statistic that second to Mom, 32% of Canadian girls cite celebrities as their top role models, Dove felt compelled to recognize admirable women working outside of Hollywood. During the presentation, scientist Arlene Blum modestly shared tales of climbing the world’s tallest mountains and David Suzuki’s daughter Severn described how she scrambled to prepare notes last minute for a speech to UN officials when she was merely 12 years old.

After Mandy Moore formally introduced the four women, Sharon MacLeod, vice-president of marketing, Dove Canada, led a Q&A session. Preteens barely old enough to have Facebook accounts quickly formed a line and articulately posed questions. Thankfully the girls never said the word “like,” and that confidence will definitely help them stand out as eloquent public speakers someday. What would truly be incredible is if the 4 featured role models spoke at upcoming Canadian graduation ceremonies.

Within just a few months, I shook Nicholas Sparks’ hand and sat a few rows away from Mandy Moore. When’s Shane West coming to Toronto? He’s cute…