2008 Woodie Awards
Confronting portrayals of beauty
By: Michelle Erdmann
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News
The cultural obsession with being thin was the main topic for a small group of women at a body image workshop.
Michelle Bigard, of CMU's Counseling Center, and Suzanne Gareiss, a recreation parks and leisure faculty member, created a six-week body image workshop for women and condensed the workshop into two hours Thursday night.
"Women have learned they must be youthful, thin, sexual and unrealistically fit to be noticed," Bigard said. "But even the flawless beauties are artificial."
At the workshop, participants verbally confronted and shared their bodily insecurities.
"What's a size double-zero,? I mean come on, seriously!" said Lexington freshman Trisha Tonge.
She said she hates not only the messages media sends women about body image, but also hates how jeans companies like American Eagle have changed their sizes to fit skinny body types.
In fact, one in 10 college women has an eating disorder. Twenty-three percent of models today are thinner than the average woman, while 20 years ago there was only an 8 percent difference in weight between models and the average woman, according to the movie "Slim Hopes."
Even Julia Roberts' figure didn't impress Hollywood movie-makers. All sex scenes and posters in her movie "Pretty Women" used a body double.
The women learned the diet industry was a $33 billion industry in the 1990s and has only increased since. In addition, 98 percent of people who use fad diets gain the weight back, according to "Slim Hopes."
"It was very interesting to learn about the moral messages presented by the media," said Katie Dentzman, a Holland sophomore. "I didn't consciously recognize until we watched the video tonight.
Dentzman said she developed a sense of camaraderie with the women at the workshop. She said it was a comfort to know other women struggled with similar body image issues.
news@cm-life.com
Michelle Bigard, of CMU's Counseling Center, and Suzanne Gareiss, a recreation parks and leisure faculty member, created a six-week body image workshop for women and condensed the workshop into two hours Thursday night.
"Women have learned they must be youthful, thin, sexual and unrealistically fit to be noticed," Bigard said. "But even the flawless beauties are artificial."
At the workshop, participants verbally confronted and shared their bodily insecurities.
"What's a size double-zero,? I mean come on, seriously!" said Lexington freshman Trisha Tonge.
She said she hates not only the messages media sends women about body image, but also hates how jeans companies like American Eagle have changed their sizes to fit skinny body types.
In fact, one in 10 college women has an eating disorder. Twenty-three percent of models today are thinner than the average woman, while 20 years ago there was only an 8 percent difference in weight between models and the average woman, according to the movie "Slim Hopes."
Even Julia Roberts' figure didn't impress Hollywood movie-makers. All sex scenes and posters in her movie "Pretty Women" used a body double.
The women learned the diet industry was a $33 billion industry in the 1990s and has only increased since. In addition, 98 percent of people who use fad diets gain the weight back, according to "Slim Hopes."
"It was very interesting to learn about the moral messages presented by the media," said Katie Dentzman, a Holland sophomore. "I didn't consciously recognize until we watched the video tonight.
Dentzman said she developed a sense of camaraderie with the women at the workshop. She said it was a comfort to know other women struggled with similar body image issues.
news@cm-life.com
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