5 Reasons The New Dove And Shonda Rhimes Video Needs To Be Sent To Your Group Text

Meet Kylee, owner of Friar Tuck's Barbershop. She's reclaiming the hyper-masculine barbershop experience to push beauty boundaries beyond femininity.

A recent Dove study found that 74% of women believe more needs to be done to redefine the current definition of beauty to be more inclusive and, in fact, we know that 3 out of 4 gay and lesbian women believe society suggests they do not care about beauty. And who could blame them? We’re constantly seeing a one-dimensional representation of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s tired, it’s lazy, and it’s time we expand the narrative.

Thankfully, there are many women out there who want to do just that.

In the newest video release from Shonda Rhimes and Dove Real Beauty Productions, you’ll meet Kylee, owner of Friar Tuck’s Barbershop whose journey of self-discovery started with a hair cut.

Growing up, Kylee says she knew what women were “supposed to look like” based on what she saw in the media. It wasn’t until she cut her hair short that she found the power to choose full self-expression and push the boundaries of beauty beyond femininity.

Here’s 5 reasons why all your friends need to meet her, too.

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1. She’s taking down the patriarchy with her scissors.

Barbershops have long been a traditionally hyper-masculine environment but at Friar Tuck’s, Kylee is reclaiming it by creating a safe space for people of all genders to talk about their identity and beauty.

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2. Beauty has so many different identities.

As someone who tried (and failed miserably) to make waterfall bangs happen at the age of 13, I get the power of our appearance to change the way we perceive ourselves. But beauty has so many different identities and most of them don’t fit into the box that society has created. Kylee’s story is an important inclusion to our global beauty narrative, which consistently fails to represent those who don’t identify with femininity, or may not identify within a binary at all.

3. It’s still rare to see a positive LGBTQ+ parent/child relationship celebrated in mainstream media.

So often the story of this relationship is centered around rejection, pain, and misunderstanding. But in the video when Kylee’s mom, Carolyn, says, “There’s nothing I would change about Kylee,” you believe her. It’s refreshing to see a parent be unabashedly proud of their child for expressing who they are. Kylee and Carolyn remind us there is always more than one storyline.

4. This story is very normal and wholly universal, but it’s still not visible.

Representation is important because when we are seen, we feel connected. When we don’t see ourselves reflected in the media we consume, it feels confusing and isolating, and most of all, it makes us feel invisible. When we feel invisible, we don’t feel confident or valued and this can stop us from speaking up and making change.

It’s that simple (but somehow still so complicated for people to wrap their brains around.)

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5. We're expanding the narrative.

As Dove’s Global Self-Esteem Ambassador for over a decade, I’m proud of taking the global beauty conversation down a different path by discussing the pressures that lesbian and gay women can face around appearance.

AND OF COURSE, I love me some Shonda Rhimes. Together through Real Beauty Productions, we are continuing to have this much-needed conversation.

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Check out the full #RealBeauty Production film!

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