Awareness Week events to confront body image

This upcoming Sunday will mark the beginning of the National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, a series of events aimed at not only promoting awareness of eating disorders but also encouraging discussion about how body image is shaped by the media. Sponsored by the Office of Health Education, the theme of this year's Week will be Everyone Knows Somebody, reminding community members that eating disorders not only affect the person suffering, but also the friends and families of patients.

In describing the purpose of the week, which occurs annually, Wellness Peer Educator Hillary Frame '14 said, "The bottom line is that these issues cannot be allowed to fall by the wayside, someone must always be raising concerns about the way bodies are portrayed, and help must be offered to those who want it."

The Office of Health Education (OHE), in collaboration with Phocus, started the Beautiful Person campaign that critically questions how bodies and individuals are viewed. "Students can send in photos and a caption stating why they consider this person to be beautiful, whether it is because they are kind, or because they work really hard, or any other reason," said Frame.

Currently the photos and captions from this campaign are colorfully displayed on the second floor of the College Center. The captions range from the heartfelt to the poetic. One caption written by Shane Trujillo reads, "I have never met someone in my life that is so gracious, forgiving and kind. Whenever I think the world is a cruddy place that is only getting worse, Alex [Dorsey '13] reminds me that true good exists in the universe."

Another OHE event aimed at promoting healthy body image is "Barbie and Ken," which will take place on March 6 at 6 p.m. in the Faculty Commons. The event focuses on female and male perspectives on body image and how they interact with eating disorders and the media. To put on the event, the OHE is collaborating with the Women's Studies Department. Associate Dean of the Faculty and Associate Professor of English Eve Dunbar will speak.

Overall, the programming for the week was marked by a high degree of collaboration between the OHE, the Women's Studies Department, The Miscellany News and members of the Feminist Alliance.

Co-President of the Feminist Alliance Faren Tang '13 clarified that though their participation was limited to individual members, "Feminist Alliance is in full support of Eating Disorder Awareness Week."

The members of the Feminist Alliance will join the Women's Studies Department, OHE and the Miscellany in hosting a screening of Miss Representation shortly after the break.

The film, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival, explores the under-representation of women in influential positions as portrayed by the media. Utilizing the stories of women of all ages, including Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric and Condoleezza Rice alongside teenage girls, the film shows how the negativity of the mainstream media contributes to a lack of empowerment for women.

In addition to bringing attention to media's affect on body image, Frame said, "We want people to think about the people in their lives who could possibly be dealing with an eating disorder."

The National Eating Disorder Association spearheads the week's events and the organization encourages local groups across the country to register as participants. In years past, programming has taken place in all 50 states and 29 countries outside of the United States. All programming is conducted under the same theme; this year educates community members of the far-reaching effects of eating disorders.

Associate Dean of Students and Director of Psychological Services Sylvia R. Balderrama wrote in an emailed statement that eating disorders are a national issue. "Eating disorders affect between one percent and three percent of women and less than .5 percent of men nationally," she wrote.

For Vassar, a key part of the week will be raising awareness and letting people know how to get help. "We will have a table stocked with information about eating disorders for the last week of February, so that people can gather resources when they are comfortable with doing so," wrote Balderrama.

For individuals suffering from an eating disorder, Balderrama wrote, "Seek[ing] nutritional help, hav[ing] a physical and talk[ing] to a counselor are good first steps."

"Metcalf is a wonderful place to start as far [as] resources go, as they can help on campus or, if you prefer, be referred off campus. In addition there is a nutritionist at Baldwin once a month who can meet with students," said Frame.

Overall the organizers of the event thought the week was an invaluable jumping-off point to begin conversations about body image and eating disorders. "It helps to start the ball rolling on more thought and action on eating disorders and body image," said Frame.