Narrow beauty standards make it difficult for women to freely celebrate their own beauty. In the U.S., society’s bias has resulted in unfair judgment and discrimination against Black women based on hair texture and styles

Dove has always been the brand that shattered beauty stereotypes and promoted authenticity and real beauty. In the Hair category more specifically, Dove has focused on widening the definition of beautiful hair by showing how society’s narrow vision affects the younger generation. Past campaigns have shed light on the impact, but we knew it was not enough to just champion the message...we need to create actionable change. That’s why in 2020, our objective was to raise awareness about Dove’s role in the CROWN Act—a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination—and for that, we needed a partner.

Enter Matthew A. Cherry, a young Black filmmaker who produced a short film—funded through a Kickstarter campaign—called Hair Love about a Black girl learning to love her natural hair. Seeing an opportunity to further the conversation around hair discrimination, Dove Hair supported the film to get it into production. Then when Matthew received the Academy Award nomination for Hair Love, we took our commitment to the next level by instigating a “For Your Consideration” campaign designed to make the film—and the pressing issue of hair discrimination—unmissable to Oscar judges and the wider public.