More than sixty students gathered in the Women’s Center for the day long event of Love Your Body workshop on October 15. The crowd consisted of both male and female students, and faculty as well. Discussions were on how the media has an impact on a woman’s body image and how it effects their self esteem.

“If the average woman is a size twelve, than why are most women in advertisements a size two?” asked Kimberly Fisher, 19, a liberal arts major and one of the students who helped put the workshop together. In addition, two out of three Americans are considered to be obese. That was one of the topics on women’s self body imaging at the event which marked the one year anniversary of the BCCC Women’s Center.

The event was initiated by The National Organization for Women (NOW) to speak out against images portrayed of women that are harmful and dangerous to women. “The aim for the workshop is to enable women to see that society and the standards the media holds for the female body are extremely unrealistic, unhealthy and harmful,” said Leah Robinson, an instructor for the workshop. In fact four out of five young women suffer from an eating disorder brought on because of an unrealistic body image that many young women harbor. Many agreed at the forum that the media sets the standard on how a woman is to look and act which can bring on a host of problems not only to women but to the entire community as well.

The day began at 11:00 a.m. with a screening of Jean Kilbourne’s, “Killing Us Softly,” which dealt with the powerful advertising image of women and gender roles. It proceeded until noon when students from the Women’s Health Class presented an hour long workshop of, “Bye Bye Barbie” that included poetry and an art collage. At the end of the workshop a body image survey was given out to the audience where feedback was given back on what male and female students felt about their bodies. Most students gave a positive outlook and said that they were happy with their bodies regardless of what the media says on how they should look. One girl said, ” I am beautiful because I am healthy.” Another girl said “I am beautiful because I am smart and successful.”

Students from the Women’s Health Class surveyed almost five hundred students on campus and found that most young women liked to compare themselves to Britney Spears. Likewise, men seemed to be attracted to women that looked like Jennifer Lopez. Yet, men were not as pressured about their bodies as women are. When the surveyed asked what they wanted to change about their bodies, most females answered first their chest, weight, and thighs. Men, on the other hand only wanted to change to having larger muscles.

Even though Madison Avenue tells us how we should look, “we shouldn’t be pressured to look a certain way,” says Robinson. As one girl said “I feel beautiful because I love myself from the inside out.”

Check out the Women’s Center Brown Bag Lunches located at room 118a of the Rollins Center