Dove, Getty Images & Girlgaze launch Project #ShowUs

Taking ahead its long-standing commitment to re-define how beauty is portrayed and celebrated, Dove, has partnered with Getty Images and Girlgaze, to launch Project #ShowUs; the first publicly accessible photo library to shatter beauty stereotypes by showing women as they are, not as others believe they should be. 116 female-identifying and non-binary photographers from across 39 countries have worked together to create largest stock library feature over 5000 images of women to showcase an inclusive vision of beauty for all. These images available now for the media and advertising industries to view, license and use in their next project or campaign.

“Dove understands the impact unrealistic images of beauty can have on a women’s body confidence and their subsequent ability to reach their full potential. For over 60 years, we have believed in liberating women from narrow beauty ideals and have showcased beauty diversity in our advertising. However, this is not enough, and we cannot make the systemic change we need alone.” says Sophie Galvani, Global Vice President, Dove. “Hence Project #ShowUs – we have spent over a year creating the world’s largest image bank of over 5000 beauty images breaking beauty stereotypes, and we are now inviting media and advertisers to license the images and join us to take real tangible action. The images have been created and self-tagged by women themselves and as well as asking media and advertisers to licence them for their upcoming projects, we are also offering women around the world the opportunity to become part of the change and add their images to the library.”

Research from the Dove Research study shows that women across the world feel there is limited diversity in how women are portrayed in images in the media. 78% of women in India do not feel represented by everyday images and 79% wish that media and advertisers did a better job of portraying women of diverse appearance – including age, race, shape and size.  74% Indian women say the pressure from media and advertising drives anxiety around appearance and beauty in general. Furthermore, 42% say they personally feel worse about themselves when they look at beautiful women in magazines.

Talking about Dove’s commitment towards breaking the beauty stereotypes, Sandeep Kohli, Executive Director and VP Beauty and Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever said “Everything Dove does is rooted in the mission to make beauty an inclusive experience for all– Project #ShowUs is our most ambitious project to date and a big investment we wanted to make to trigger meaningful change at a societal level. Through this project, we want to shatter beauty stereotypes by showing women as they are, not as others believe they should be. This is just the beginning and we are hoping more creative and media professionals join us in this movement, as this commitment needs to be widespread.”

Project #ShowUs is part of Unilever’s commitment to UN Women’s Unstereotype Alliance – a cross-industry global initiative which uses the power of advertising and media to free the world from harmful stereotypes that hold back people and society.

How to get involved

Media and advertisers – it’s up to all of us to expand how we are portrayed. View, license and use the photos in Project #ShowUs for your next project or campaign at GettyImages.com/ShowUs. This is just the beginning. Every image licensed will support female photographers of the future and grow the photo library further, so that all media & advertisers can reflect the authentic experiences of women around the world.

Women around the world –Want to help expand the definition of beauty? Join us at Dove.com/ShowUs to share your images and you could become part of the Project #ShowUs photo library.