All welcome to join the Body Image Council for our 8th Annual NEDA Walk!  To register and raise $$ for the National Eating Disorders Association in memory of Bryn Mawr and Haverford College’s Dietitian Mimi Murray, go to  www.nationaleatingdisorders.org, click on “programs and events”, then click on “NEDA Walk.”

This was posted on Kathleen’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/notes/kathleen-macdonald/do-i-look-fat-in-this/10150111722509496)

Tonight at James Madison University brave young women got up and shared powerful stories of how they were impacted by eating and body image issues/disorders. They inspired me to take time and write this…

We have these labels in our society called: thin, fat, obese, eating disordered, bulimic, anorexic, skinny, chubby, etc…

What the hell with these labels?

Do we place these labels on babies who are still in the womb? WHEN after simply hoping for 10 fingers and 10 toes do we start teaching babies that fat is bad and thin is pretty?

Tonight I let my heart weep in a way that I have not done since last April when I received word (via a staffer on Capitol Hill, nonetheless) that my dear friend Nicole had died from her eating disorder…and I couldn’t help but wonder: when did she start “feeling fat”

Those of you with young daughters and sons, and wives and aunts and mothers and brothers and teammates, etc., who “feel fat” —TAKE NOTE: ‘feeling fat’ is not healthy NOR is it normal. It has become ‘acceptable’ –and that is something we NEED to change.

I am so sick and tired of losing people to these enigmatic things we label as ‘eating disorders’. The seemingly ‘innocuous’ comments you make to your self about your body and to your self about food and about other peoples’ bodies and other peoples’ food…those comments ARE being heard and TAKEN PERSONALLY by the best and the brightest. I listened to young woman after young woman speak tonight about how the comments they heard impacted their feelings about their body, thus in turn their feelings about themselves and what they do/do not eat.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I suffered from these ‘comments’ for 16 years of my life. My friends have died from these comments, and the daughters of parents have died from ‘feeling fat’ and the results of ‘dieting’ to stop feeling ‘fat’… WE MUST CHANGE THIS CULTURE THAT SEEMS TO BELIEVE THAT THIN IS BEAUTIFUL.

THIN GOT ME NOTHING GOOD OR TANGIBLE IN MY LIFE.

THIN DESTROYED MY FAMILY, MY RELATIONSHIPS WITH FRIENDS, MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND THIN WAS THE FOCUS OF MY SELF-WORTH FOR YEARS. I NEVER EVER could be doing the work I do today if I was still giving a sh_t about whether or not I was ‘thin’. THIN is not a shape or size –it is a term constructed by society. I AM my natural and healthy genetic weight for this current day. THAT IS BEAUTIFUL and that is ENOUGH. That is what I pray we begin to teach our young children. “looks” by society’s definition  DO NOT MATTER. what matters is that we are each drawn in loving-kindness by something greater than us  —someone who makes us each uniquely beautiful.

Please learn from all those who have died in the pursuit of being ‘just a few pounds thinner’. IT IS NOT WORTH IT. EVER.

Are you struggling with an eating disorder, eating problems, or bad feelings about your body? Join the Body Image and Eating Issues Support Group, starting Thursday 2/10. The group will meet weekly on Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Quita Woodward Room in Thomas Building. The group aims to explore the biology, language, thoughts and self-talk associated with food and eating, and to explore the facts and fallacies of weight and body image, with the purpose of increasing awareness and developing a healthier view of the self. The facilitator will combine her knowledge of eating disorders and therapy with a background in neurobiology and biochemistry to both inform and challenge group attitudes about eating and weight.

The group is sponsored by the Body Image Council and facilitated by Sarah Gibbs, MS, PhD.  Dr. Gibbs is a therapist in private practice who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. A former group and primary therapist at The Renfrew Center of Philadelphia, she also teaches as an adjunct professor of Biology and Psychology at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges.

Interested Bryn Mawr and Haverford students may come to the first meeting on Thursday or contact Dr. Gibbs (sgibbs@haverford.edu) with questions.

Enjoy this video, in which Bryn Mawr students and staff share why they love their bodies. Join the Body Image Council in taking the Fat Talk Free Pledge!

Fat Talk Free Week Video

The Body Image Council sponsors Jenni Schaefer, author of “Life Without ED” and “Goodbye ED, Hello Me”, at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, 11/10 in TGH. Jenni is a singer/songwriter and a compelling speaker. She is fully recovered from an eating disorder and shares in her presentation and in her books how this is possible for others, too. This presentation will be extremely helpful to anyone struggling with an eating disorder or trying to support others who struggle with one. Please join us! The presentation is free and no registration is necessary.

This is really cool

The forthcoming Broadway production of Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty is searching for everyday people to be photographed as part of the play’s advertising campaign.

This is a great new book for kids to explore body image differences. Mad props to authors Alix Redmonde and George Fischer.

Also, check out the article in the previous post about Video Games and Body Images. I’d like to point out that this is should be a “no duh” for many, but i still think the study is interesting. Basically, they found that men who played 15 minutes of a wrestling video game and women that played 15 minutes of a beach volley ball game had lowered self esteem and body image. However, I think it’s unfair to compare men and women in the same category.

Isnt it a bit unfair, since men and women’s self image arent necessarily starting at the same place? Until we have a store at the mall thats the equal to Victoria’s Secret, but for men, i think that these studies need to stop looking at both men AND women in the same way around issues of body image. Have men ever been critiqued on appearance the way Hilary Clinton was in the last election? I didnt think so. So, scientists, thanks for studying body image and looking at it. But please stop pretending that men and women are on an equal playing field when it comes to these issues.

Its Great to be Different New Childrens Body Image Book