In the article below, it mentions little girls are having self esteem issues - as young as 3 years old! They don't believe they are pretty.

http://lifestyle.msn.com/familyandparenting/raisingkids/articleoprah.aspx?cp-documentid=5980998>1=10822

excerpt:
A recent study by the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty revealed that 9 out of every 10 girls wants to change at least one aspect of their appearance, and only 2 percent of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful.

--How can we help young girls to have self esteem?--

Is improving the self esteem of girls (often we think of beauty) the same as raising the self esteem of boys? (often, achievement) What are your thoughts on gender & self esteem?

I remember when I was a little girl I got the impression that women would only be considered valuable if they were beautiful... I found myself to be ugly, and ever since then I've been struggling with low self esteem. Looking back, its not hard to see why I was given that impression. I remember watching my mother spend a few hours every day on her appearance... putting on contacts (because she thought she looked better without glasses), meticulously applying make up, curling her hair, etc. Also, another woman who made an impression on me at that young age was Marilyn Monroe. She was the most famous woman of the 20th century, but she was famous and valued ONLY for her beautiful appearance.

In addition to that, I can't remember anybody ever telling me once that I was beautiful/pretty, hence my feeling that I was ugly and not worth much.

I think if we are ever to improve a young girl's self esteem we, as a society, need to stop valuing females based on their appearances! We need to start valuing their intellect, talents and abilities instead.

I should respond to the Unilever campaign to sell more products? No, they can fool Oprah, ( doesn't everybody ) but not me.

Self esteem is earned through accomplishment, not the artificial inflation of three year old child's self esteem.

It's not just girls. Many parents make their boys feel less than adequate if they are not interested in sports or if they are poor athletes. We live in a society where sports and beauty are everything and those without either are somehow made out to be freaks.

Edit: In response to another post, I would not like to see home economics re-instated in school. Telling girls that they can raise their self-esteem by being taught how to cook, clean, and sew is not the answer. I had to take this class in junior high school over 35 years ago and I hated it. The boys got to take wood shop classes and build cool items like birdhouses while the girls learned about entertaining and interior decorating. I stopped having a problem with this class when it was later integrated and boys were allowed to take it and girls could take shop classes. People should not be designated specific chores and activities based purely on their sex. They should have their own choice in the matter. Not all girls like to cook just like not all boys like to build things.

We have to teach them to be less superficial and more confident in themselves. Being beautiful is great but no little girl should learn that her worth is based on this. We need to teach them that they are valuable and they have control over their own identities. I think the best way to do this is to encourage them to try a lot of different activities that they can associate themselves with/enjoy and get good at. That way they can always have a self esteem boost. These activities could be sports, music, art, et cetera. When a person feels they are useful, and enjoys what they do, then they build a sense of worth and superficial opinions from other people mean less.

I think exposing kids to different people, lifestyles, and cultures all would help with self-esteem. when you get one viewpoint on how you are "supposed to grow up", that becomes your world. When you see that you can live your life in many different ways, people are happier and more accepting of whatever they have.

Kids just need to be exposed to things, and find their medium on which they can grow and live