About the author: Victor Xavier Gamez Barrera is a sophomore from Manassas, VA majoring in English. Right now he is probably reading, writing, napping, trying to sing over his absurdly loud shower head, sinking the 8-Ball too soon, or trying to pull his zipper back up discreetly. He hopes you have a good day, unless you're one of those types who never recognize that person saying hey to you on Locust. (Sorry in that case!) Read more from this authorEmily Gerard, fellow blogger, reports on the Body Image Awareness event the F-Word hosted recently:
Last Wednesday, F-Word hosted a Body Image Awareness event for the Penn community. F-Word alum Barrie Nussbaum (CAS ’09), who had written her senior thesis on eating disorders at Penn, returned to give a presentation on the findings of research she conducted as an undergraduate, and specialists from the Women’s Center and CAPS were also on hand to help and offer expertise. The event was well attended, by all different kinds of students, though they were exclusively female. Some were involved with F-Word or other women’s organizations, some were interested in the issue for the sake of a friend, and many were just curious to hear what others had to say about body image at Penn.
Barrie began her presentation by clarifying the definition of an eating disorder. She differentiated between anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorder not specified (ED-NOS). She was careful to explain that eating disorders are not to be confused with eating disturbances, which are less severe and far more common. She cautioned against casually saying, “Oh, she’s so anorexic,” a line frequently tossed off here at Penn about a skinny girl. In fact, Barrie said, very few people are actually classified as anorexic or bulimic, and it’s a serious issue that is trivialized by using the terms casually. But anybody can see that Penn is populated by an unusual number of very skinny students, and that is where eating disturbances come in.
Eating disturbances can involve a vast range of preoccupations with food, of varying degrees of obsessiveness. They can often lead full-blown eating disorders and can be just as physically and psychologically harmful.
Barrie then presented some alarming statistics about the extent to which American women are preoccupied with food and their bodies, to the detriment of their self-image and happiness. Girls are beginning to diet at ever-younger ages, due to the overwhelming insecurity they feel in a culture with such unrealistic standards of beauty. We viewed and talked about images in the media of clearly anorexic women, whose look has now become both mainstream and ideal in our culture. Barrie discussed many contributing factors to eating disorders, including family relationships, cultural expectations, and even a possible genetic component, but the bottom line seemed to be that while eating disorders are technically rare, the vast majority of American females, young and old, feel bad about themselves because of body issues.
Barrie then moved on to the specifics of her own project. She had conducted a survey of 317 undergraduate Penn women, questioning them about their eating and exercise habits, as well as their emotional wellbeing. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said that they restrict their food intake on a daily basis, and 30% said that they are fearful about gaining weight—every single day of their lives. Nearly 40% said that they had a “strong desire” to lose weight either most or all of the time. Out of 317 women who took the survey, only 3 ranked their own bodies as a 10 (meaning they were perfectly satisfied)—the vast majority gave themselves mediocre grades of about 6.
Twenty five of the women surveyed responded that they had been formally diagnosed with an eating disorder, or about 9%. This means that Penn women suffer from eating disorders at more than twice the rate of eating disorder estimates for the rest of America. Barrie found that a high parents’ education level increased daughters’ chances of developing an eating disorder 48-fold. We discussed possible reasons for this, including the stereotype that eating disorders are primarily diseases suffered by wealthy white women (a stereotype which is less and less the case nowadays, as unfortunately more and more people are afflicted).
Barrie also conducted interviews with some of the women she surveyed. Many responses articulated the insecurity Penn women feel when they go to the gym. There were numerous references to competitiveness at Pottruck, whether it is over who is the skinniest person on the treadmill or how fast they are running. Interviewees said that Penn students are unusually good looking and thin, and that there is daily pressure to live up to a certain standard that is unspoken but pervasive nonetheless. One woman theorized that the driven, type-A personalities who are smart enough to get in here, and succeed in highly pressurized environments such as Wharton, are easily susceptible to body image issues and can apply the same compulsive behavior to their bodies that serves them well in their studies.
After the presentation, we opened up the floor for a guided discussion about body image at Penn. Many people shared anecdotes about their struggles to feel self-confident and accepting of their bodies. We agreed that eating disturbances probably affect most women here, to some degree or another. Most everybody seems to have some level of preoccupation with food, so the question that we wanted to address was how to achieve happiness and acceptance in the face of these pressures. Sharing personal experiences was a cathartic experience for some, and we discussed what we could do to promote positive body image here on campus. Ideas ranged from complimenting people we love more often, to setting a good example for friends and letting healthy attitudes rub off instead of negative ones. We ended the session with a guided meditation session meant to turn our focus inwards and keep it on the present. We reflected both individually and as a group, in order to conclude our evening on a calm and self-aware note. We also partook in a healthy and well-balanced communal dinner.
F-Word knew that this would be a relevant topic for an event aimed at raising awareness, but it became strikingly clear over course of the night’s events that these issues are a major source of concern for undergraduate women at Penn. We hope that this will be only the beginning of an ongoing dialogue about body image and efforts to help the high-achieving women of the undergraduate Penn community feel happy and satisfied with their outstanding selves.
It is a really difficult topic to deal with as most of the time people are in denial and not easily reached.
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