The Healthy Options Peer Educators [HOPE] organized events for students to promote the inner beauty of the body in honor of Body Image Awareness Month this October. One event, titled Mirrorless Monday, featured newspapers and motivational messages taped to mirrors in all public restrooms in campus buildings. This event aimed to prevent people from seeing imperfections in their reflections.
“I thought Mirrorless Monday was a great way to show that both guys and girls are affected by body image. It’s a two-way street,” said senior Ed Carey.
Dr. Cindy March, director of counseling services, held a meeting on Monday, Oct. 19 to discuss the media’s effect on body image. March discussed the many causes of students’ body-consciousness while dealing with everyday problems. “I think the media and advertisements play a huge role in the way girls think. Even [in] fashion – they come up with the skinny jeans, implying that you have to be skinny to wear them, when everyone really knows in order to fit into them you have to go up a size anyway,” said senior Janelle Nemetz.
Perfection is seen as the ideal image, but only in advertising and the fashion world. “I thought it was great. I wish more people would’ve came, but it was definitely worth attending,” said freshman Sarah Munley.
While some advertisements focus on looking thin, a 2004 campaign by Dove promoted the idea that comfort in one’s skin is what matters most. According to Media Awareness Network, the campaign’s message promoted healthy bodies, not the super skinny frames only realistic for 5 percent of the population. A woman featured in the ad, Shanel Lu, wanted to be a part of the campaign because she believed it would affect girls’ lives. The ads benefited a self-esteem fund for Dove and have touched over 3 million lives thus far, according to the Dove website. Munley believes problems with body image start at a young age and girls need to learn how to stand up to it and realize they’re beautiful in their own skin.
The runway is another place where body issues arise. In an October New York Daily News article by Carrie Melago, model Fillipa Hamilton told her war story living the waif life. Weighing in at a slim 120 pounds and exceeding six feet tall in heels, Hamilton seemed to be the ideal super model – but she wasn’t. Her employers at Ralph Lauren, whom she had worked for nearly 10 years, fired her because she was “fat” and that her slinky size-4 body was “too big” to fit in their designer collections for the runway.
“Fashion should be about how you feel. If you want to wear the sexy black dress with the pearls then do it. Look in the mirror and pick out the positives and tell yourself that you look good,” said Nemetz.
HOPE will hold more events in the future to promote healthy body image among MU students.
Battling Body Image at MU
Published: Sunday, October 25, 2009
Updated: Monday, October 26, 2009 19:10
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