About

The spark of inspiration for Winkme.org came during a routine soccer practice among high school juniors, when team leader Dee Wisne overheard her goalie teammate, a tall, beautiful and talented young woman, casually criticize her own body. The more she thought about it, the more frequently Dee would hear similar comments from women in school, at work, and across social media. She realized that such talk had become an established part of the culture, nurtured by advertising and other mass media, and was terribly damaging to the self-esteem of us all.

After attempting to reverse these negative voices in her own head, Dee gathered her soccer team to discuss what more could be done, thus creating the first Winkme club experience. Soon a more formal group began meeting regularly, including younger women from all across the social spectrum, gathering momentum and resolving to turn back the tide of negativity.

Winkme.org is our first attempt to create a worldwide campaign of awareness, to draw attention to the rampant self-criticism occurring throughout our culture, and provide a symbol of hope for those who want to change the narrative. The “winkme” emblem was specifically created to be easy to copy, to use on stickers and pins, as a constant reminder among us to fight back against society’s craving to define us as flawed objects, in need of fixing. We stole the “wink” from the commonly male-used sign of approval and have turned it in to a representation of our own self-respect.

With your help, Winkme can take on a whole new meaning. That while we all strive for self-improvement, we don’t need to dwell on our so-called “flaws.” Who says our hips and our nose are “too big,” our eyes or breasts “too small,” or our voices and opinions “too loud?”

Who says? Not us. Not any of us. Now a “wink” means something different. And the more you hear the negative comments, the more you’ll want to share a wink with your friends too.