SELF LOVE IS ACTION
We believe that self-love has the power to be action. It’s about each and every one of us needing to take conscious action (big or small) and rising up together. A key part of acting collectively is about businesses playing their part and taking responsibility. As The Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick once said: “Never be seduced into believing it isn’t the role of business to tackle the big issues, because it absolutely is.”
We’ve always challenged societal norms, encouraging empowerment and fuelling activism. Back in 1998, we took a stance on body positivity with our self-esteem campaign which featured a size 16 doll we called Ruby with the slogan: “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do.” In 2021, we take a stance on self-doubt, on flipping norms, on pushing through personal and societal challenges.
As a beauty company founded by a woman, it is our fundamental belief that everyone has the right to be heard, to feel beautiful, feel seen, feel believed, feel respected and be loved. We’re seeing the groundswell of female activism like never before, but there is still so much unfinished business amongst women of all ages from all backgrounds and ethnicities still grossly underrepresented, with no voice and no agency.
When we asked change-maker and founder of @girlswillbeboys_ Char Ellesse how she understands self-love as action, she told us that her very existence is an act of defiance. She explains that: “As a woman, especially as a black woman, especially as a queer black woman, me existing is defiance. Period. I feel like the world was not built for people like me. It's just rebellious for me to do whatever I want to do and thrive whilst I'm doing it.”