BlogHer Discusses Body Image and Self-Esteem in Audio Interview with Former Olympic Gymnast Dominique Dawes
Three-time Olympic medalist in gymnastics answers questions about developing a positive self-image as part of BlogHer's ongoing Letter to My Body initiative.
Palo Alto, CA (PRWEB) June 5, 2008
BlogHer, Inc. (www. blogher. com), one of the top women's online networks and the Web's number-one guide to blogs by women, today announced an exclusive interview with former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes, who details her commitment to building self-confidence, self-awareness and a positive body image in young girls and women. As a former gymnast and a motivational speaker, Dawes serves as a mentor and role model to women, reinforcing BlogHer's efforts to promote self-confidence and realistic body perceptions for women from all walks of life with the "Letter to My Body" initiative. The interview in its entirety can be found at the following link: http://www. blogher. com/blogher-podcast-courtney-macavinta-spoke-dominique-dawes-about-body-image (http://www. blogher. com/blogher-podcast-courtney-macavinta-spoke-dominique-dawes-about-body-image)
"I thoroughly enjoy the work I do in helping motivate and empower young girls to celebrate and love their natural selves," Dawes said. "I struggled with self-esteem issues as a young girl, and it was not until my gymnastics career was completed in 2000 that I realized my accomplishments would not have been possible without my type of body, and I finally started to appreciate and celebrate myself."
During the interview, conducted by noted girls advocate Courtney Macavinta, Dawes answered questions from the BlogHer community about her successful career, her passion for helping other women and how she inspires others to make changes within themselves. She also encouraged the many parents in the BlogHer community to have a positive impact in helping their own children and other young girls to set goals, develop internal assets and inspire self-motivation.
"We appreciate the work Dominique has done and continues to do to inspire all women to break down barriers in order to pursue their goals and develop a healthy self-esteem," said Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder and COO of BlogHer. "Self-esteem and body image issues can affect women from all walks of life, and we have seen the positive impact it can have when individuals like Dominique speak openly about these issues."
Dawes is a three-time Olympic medalist in gymnastics who won gold with the U. S. team at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. She is also the first African-American woman to win an individual medal in gymnastics, having won bronze in the floor exercise at the '96 Games, the second of her third Olympics. She was recently named - along with her teammates on the "Magnificent Seven" from 1996 - to the United States Olympic Committee's Hall of Fame, and will be inducted in June.
Dawes now works as a motivational speaker, national spokeswoman and coach. Through her work with the Girl Scouts of the U. S.A. and the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, Dawes has been able to reach young girls on a global scale to learn more about themselves, celebrate their uniqueness and work to better understand the pressures that come from peers and the media. A graduate of the University of Maryland in communications, the Silver Spring, Maryland native has put out a motivational CD titled "Envision - Reaching Your Full Potential" and gives self-esteem and fitness workshops for women.
About BlogHer
Founded in February 2005 by Elisa Camahort, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone, BlogHer's mission is to create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment. BlogHer provides the number-one community and media network of blogs by women via a community hub (http://blogher. com (http://blogher. com)), annual conferences and an advertising network of more than 1,800 qualified, contextually targeted blog affiliates. BlogHer provides the highest quality content on a range of topics, with all blogs continually edited to meet strict editorial standards, including content quality, category relevance and blog frequency.
Contacts:
Kristina Joss
Racepoint Group
Kjoss @ racepointgroup. com
415-694-6709
Elisa Camahort
BlogHer Inc.
Elisa @ blogher. org
408-504-5708
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