Reflections: On Loving Your Body

Dissatisfaction. Critical glances. Whispers, real and imagined, flit in dark corners of the closet, the bath­room. Partially naked, fully nude. One too many fat rolls, can’t fit into that pair of skinny jeans. Problems with body image.

Everyone faces beauty ideals, regardless of age, class, culture, race, sexual orientation, college affiliation. Too often it is an issue swept under the rug, an issue left to models and dancers. But it is not only models or danc­ers who see digitally altered images of men and women in magazines, on billboards, on television commercials, in movies. Anyone who does not live under a cultural rock in the northern reaches of Nunavut (and even then these ideas may find their way into the minds of people living there) is affected by cultural ideals of beauty – concep­tions which are not ideal for the individuals at Scripps, or indeed anywhere else.

Recognizing that body image problems were especially present on campus, Scripps Associated Students (SAS) and the Sallie Tiernan Field House (TFH) collabo­rated to send a delegation of students and staff members to the “Reflections: Body Image Academy” in Texas, in October 2009. Ariana Ceballos (’10) and India Mullady (’11), Resident Advisors and officers on SAS, along with Tamsen Burke and Deb Gisvold, Director and Assistant Di­rector of the TFH, respectively, went to the conference. These four Scripps representatives were trained in ways to engage in dialogue on body image issues and to identify how they feel about their bodies. Once back at Scripps, they began to tweak the methods and dialogues they had learned to better serve the community, which will come in the form of recurrent sessions to engage students in peer-led dialogue.

The “Reflections: Body Image Academy” promotes a seemingly revolutionary idea: healthy body image does not have its basis in weight or size. Healthy body image focuses first on the emotional, intellectual, and social aspects of well-being, followed by physical well-being. It is all about feeling good about oneself by reinforcing the positive. Whether an individual uses the gym to let off some steam after a hard day of classes, goes rock climb­ing in order to feel accomplished and connected with nature, or swims in the dusty light of the early morning, “Reflections” supports a holistic approach to thinking about the body. The program aims to perpetuate the posi­tive by focusing on what students do well, like serving as the cohesive element in a group of friends, being a good public speaker, playing guitar, writing poetry, or being able to quote the entire second season of “30 Rock.” Healthy body image is about recognizing – and accepting – that the body is only one aspect of who a person is.

“‘Friends don’t let friends fat talk’ was the theme we really wanted to bring back to Scripps,” says India. “Fat talk” is the destructive perpetuation of unhealthy ideals through everyday conversations with friends and peers. Harmless comments, such as how big your thighs look in that new pair of skinny jeans or how bloated you feel because of that last cookie, have their destruc­tive turn because such statements affect your friends’ thoughts and habits. Essentially, fat talk is any disparag­ing statement about your body – or others’ bodies – made within a social context.

Although not everyone suffers poor body image, SAS and the TFH felt that it was prevalent enough on cam­pus to warrant further discussion and awareness. Because it affects some of our community members, the TFH and SAS have brought the dialogues of the “Reflections: Body Image Academy” to Scripps. The dialogues will be held in the form of informal sessions, and the TFH invites ev­eryone to participate. To get Scripps students’ feet wet, several sessions were held during “Love Your Body” week in March. However, the programming has not been limited to just the one week. Body image issues constantly affect students and regular sessions are projected to take place. The TFH invites students to come to the sessions and empower themselves, become allies to support students who may have problems with body image, and strengthen systems of support.

To help facilitate a shift to healthier body image, Ariana and India have been trained as peer leaders and are training others in Scripps’ version of the Body Image Academy. “All the sessions are peer-led,” Ariana says, “and completely confidential. We want students to feel comfortable. If they aren’t comfortable and don’t feel they are in a safe space, dialogue about body image and related issues won’t even start.”

Body image is a people’s issue, not simply af­fecting women, but individuals of all sexual orientations and cultural identifications. The way friends, family, and fellow students treat one another has an enormous effect on self-perception; with such community-enforced beauty ideals, a change to healthy body image needs to happen as a community. Not allowing friends to fat talk is the first step in letting ourselves be the beautiful, wonderful people we know we are.

Whatever other colleges might think about Scripps and our attitudes towards exercise, eating, and body im­age, we are first and foremost a community of intelligent women. Although some of us might be affected by them or know someone who is, eating disorders and negative body image are issues that people face – and we should eradicate these unhealthy ideals together. With programs to help raise awareness about body image and discussions to combat negative body image issues, the shift towards healthy ideals is happening.

India and Ariana have the bodies that are suitable for them, and they invite you to ask: what is yours?

For more facts, information, and ways to get involved, stop by the TFH or visit www.bodyimageprogram.org.