Rise Up With Self-Love Movement with The Body Shop Malaysia

A global report launched today by The Body Shop has identified a self-love crisis for women around the world, with 1 in 2 women feeling more self-doubt than self-love, and 60 per cent wishing they had more respect for themselves. Self-love is many things, but it starts with the recognition and appreciation of our inner worth and value. The Body Shop Global Self Love Index is a first-of-its-kind study, commissioned to inform a long-term commitment from The Body Shop to always use its voice to build self-esteem.

The Body Shop is global movement called the “Self Love Uprising”, supported by British activist and actress Jameela Jamil and The Millennial Therapist Sara Kuburic

As a result, The Body Shop is launching a global movement called the “Self Love Uprising”, supported by British activist and actress Jameela Jamil and The Millennial Therapist Sara Kuburic. The Body Shop Malaysia is also proud to present that the movement is supported locally by empowering Leading Lights known to take initiatives and start conversations, Nandini Balakrishnan and Natalie Hussain.

(left to right) Nandini Balakrishnan and Natalie Hussain – The Body Shop Malaysia’s Leading Lights for the Rise Up with Self Love Movement

South Korea, Saudi Arabia and France rank lowest for self-love, whereas Denmark, Australia, and the United States rank the highest. The study, designed by The Body Shop and leading market research firm Ipsos, ran between November and December 2020 with over 22,000 people in 21 different countries. The Self Love Index comprises a number of academic measures of self-worth, wellbeing, and happiness, and reveals how age, gender, country, and living standards impact how people feel about themselves.

Further key findings of The Self Love Index include:

● Covid-19 has had a slightly more positive impact on women’s self-love than negative

● Heavy users of social media have lower levels of self-love, however they are twice as likely to say they get the emotional support they need, compared to non-users

● The top three causes of low confidence among women are: financial status (32 per cent), followed by not achieving their goals in life (25 per cent) and their looks (23 per cent)

● 47 per cent of women in the UK feel they are ‘no good at all’, compared to 27 per cent of those in Brazil

● 72 per cent of women in the UK often wish their body was different

● 37 per cent of single women, and 38 per cent of minority women, rank in the lowest quartile on the Self Love Index, compared to 21 per cent of married and 25 per cent of non-minority women

● Younger women struggle with self-love. Nearly 50 per cent Gen Z women fall into the lowest self-love category, compared with less than 20 per cent of those that are Gen Z or older

Perhaps one of the most surprising findings of the research is that overall, Covid-19 has had a slightly more positive impact on women’s self-love than negative. However, women with low self-love were six times more likely to say Covid-19 had a negative impact on their selflove, and women with financial worries also say Covid-19 had a negative impact, suggesting that the pandemic has compounded self-esteem issues for the most vulnerable women in society. Resilience is also linked to self-love: the higher a person scored, the more likely they were to say they are quick to bounce back from tough times.

One divisive issue when it comes to self-love is social media. Heavy users of social media are twice as likely to say they get the emotional support they need compared to non-users, indicating social media networks may play a valuable role in providing support networks for women. However, the research also shows that heavy social media users have lower levelsof self-love, are more likely to compare themselves to others, and are often more unhappy with their body.

The Body Shop Self-love Expert Sara Kuburic said: “For many women, the pandemic although unpleasant – has offered a space for reflection, reprioritisation, and authenticity. Many have embraced who they are, stripping themselves of pressures to show up or “be” a certain way. But, for those women who struggled with self-esteem prior to Covid-19, they have found the isolation and lack of social support confronting and painful because it robbed them of the external sources that masqueraded as self-esteem.

In this increasingly online world too, if a woman is using social media as her primary means of building or outsourcing her self-love and validation, the unrealistic expectations and comparisons can become detrimental and amplify struggles of self-acceptance.

The Body Shop will use the findings from the Index to review and inform its own practices, especially across its marketing and product portfolio. The aim is to spread one million acts of self-love in one year, to create more love and positive change in the world.

Datin Mina Cheah-Foong, Managing Director of InNature Berhad, said: “Call it self-respect, self-esteem, self-regard, self-care, or self-appreciation it all adds up to SELF-LOVE. Being kind to myself and forgiving myself for my mistakes will not lead me to weakness nor doom me to a life of failure. It just left me more time to focus on bettering myself and action to improve my situation. Practising self-love makes me let go of hurts. It allows me to be gentle to both my spirit and my body. Self-love is not such a strange concept if I think of how I treat my family and my friends and apply that same consideration to myself. Kindness, respect, boundary, tolerance, prioritising, care, acceptance, forgiveness, generosity, trust. The list of good attributes goes on. Just go ahead and love yourself the way you love your family and friends. But it does take conscious practise. I still am critical and judgmental and continue to push myself but on the overall, I strive to maintain a wholesome discipline and tell myself that I am entitled to relish and delight in the fruits of my efforts. And in doing so, I invite others to join in my celebration of SELF-LOVE.”

Actress and activist Jameela Jamil added: “I see the lack of self-love as an emotional pandemic, and one which is sadly hitting younger generations the most. Self-love is an inside job, so let’s all take just one positive action towards loving ourselves. As a woman, being proud of yourself and believing you are ‘enough’ as you are, is an act of social and political resistance.”

ONE MILLION ACTS OF SELF LOVE

The Body Shop aims to inspire 1 million acts of self-love in 1 year, to create more love and positive change in the world. It doesn’t matter how big or small, every act can lead to big change. Tips on acts of self-love will be shared on The Body shop online self-love hub and The Body Shop social media channels. Self-love is not merely a concept, it’s an experience. With this understanding, the one million acts movement highlights that selflove involves an action, and that action is at the heart of any change – personal or global.