Pure heroines

Avon’s #Stand4Her campaign is a toast to the brave women who affect change and follow their dreams.

MANILA, Philippines — Many young women across the country have fond memories of flipping through Avon catalogues and picking out fun products that probably introduced them to grown-up beauty rituals: lip gloss rings, color-changing lipstick, basics from the Simply Pretty line. Makeup trends change, and online shopping is beginning to dominate, but Avon representatives remain, becoming unexpected faces of entrepreneurship and independence.

Additionally, Avon calls itself “The Company for Women,” backing it up with decades of championing the experiences of girls and raising awareness regarding the challenges they face, from breast cancer to domestic violence. And this year, they’ve launched the #Stand4Her campaign to keep empowering women.

The campaign was introduced to young Filipino women at the recent She Talks Asia Summit, which featured seminars and discussions on pertinent issues for women. According to Agnieszka Isa, Avon’s executive director for corporate marketing, #Stand4Her celebrates change-makers and go-getters of the world. She hopes that it becomes a platform for women of all ages and backgrounds to voice their own stories of hope and determination.

“Women (still) have to overcome certain barriers,” says Agnieszka. “Millions of women out there have stood up for what they believe in, to break that glass ceiling, and have great and powerful stories to tell about how they’ve changed their lives and their communities.”

Avon has selected 12 Voices of Empowerment from various countries and in different fields to speak out about what they stand for. These include 13-year-old Brazilian rapper MC Soffia, whose songs tackle racism; Argentinian graphic designer Mariana Varela, whose nonprofit Chicas en Tecnologia champions women in science and tech; Argentinian athlete Evelina Cabrera, who founded Buenos Aires’ first-ever blind women’s soccer team. Manila-based She Talks Asia founders Lynn Pinugu and Victoria Herrera, meanwhile, are fighting for better education and more self-love and kindness, respectively.

Swedish duo Icona Pop has partnered with Avon to create the catchy and inspirational empowerment anthem All My Girls, touting the importance of sisterhood, strength, confidence and courage. The song reiterates that the #Stand4Her movement is all about telling women that they can put themselves out there, follow their dreams, and make the world a better place for everyone — inhibitions be damned.

“Women and their issues have always been at the forefront of what we do (at Avon),” Agnieszka says. “We have a strong belief that empowerment is part of what makes women feel confident and beautiful. The more empowered a woman feels, the more beautiful inside and out she feels, and the more beautiful woman is, that beauty spreads.”

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Visit stand4her.com to learn more about the campaign, see the music video for All My Girls, and discover the stories of the select Voices of Empowerment. To get involved, use the hashtag #Stand4Her to tell your own stories of triumph and breaking barriers.