10 Ways To Love Your Body

1. Play with your bellybutton. 2. Dont let your weight or shape keep you from activities that you enjoy. 3. Use Sunscreen (and all other forms of protection) ! 4. Do Yoga. 5. Admire yourself in the mirror. 6. Go for a walk. 7. Count your blessings, not your blemishes. 8. Dance. 9. Wear comfortable shoes. 10. Think of your body as the vehicle to your dreams. Honor it. Respect it. Fuel it.

Resources
Websites:
Something Fishy Website on Eating Disorders (www.something-fishy.org) Women of Color and Eating Disorders (www.something-fishy.org / cultural / roles.php) About-Face (www.about-face.org) National Organization for Womens Love Y o ur B o dy D ay (http:www.nowfoundation.org / health / lybdkit / index.html) Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention (www.edap.org) National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (www.naafa.org)

Sizeism, discrimination on the basis of body size, hurts all women

4 Ways Not to Fall Prey to the Diet Culture
1. Do not work to maintain an unnaturally low weight. Do not go on weight -loss diets or engage in compulsive or excessive exercise programs. 2. Avoid all discussion of good/ bad food and being good/ bad in relation to eating. 3. Do not compliment anyone on losing weight, do not criticize anyone for gaining weight. 4. If you struggle with body image issues, try to discuss your feelings only with close friends, family, and/or a therapist. For instance, do not complain in public that you hate your fat thighs or wish you were thinner etc.
(www.naafa.org)

and the Struggle for Equality

Books:

Eating in the Light of the Moon by Anita A. Johnston, PhD. The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
No Fat Chicks: How Big Business Profits Making Women Hate Their Bodies How to Fight Back by Terry Poulton

Feminist Perspectives on Eating Disorders by P. Fallon, S. Wooley, and M. Katzman

Unbearable Weight by Susan Bordo

Body Wars: Making Peace with Womens Bodies: An Activists Guide by Margo Maine

Loving Ourselves In All Sizes

Feminist Majority Foundations Campus Program www.feministcampus.org 1.866.444.FMLA (East Coast) 1.866.471.FMLA (West Coast)

Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem by bell hooks

Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Your Weight and Your Health by G. Gaesser

Try to learn to accept/ love your body.

Body Image and the Struggle for Equality

Poor body image, low self esteem, and eating disorders disproportionately affect women
Currently, 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance1 . As girls move from childhood to adolescence, they experience a loss of self-esteem at twice the rate of boys 2 , and girls are three times more likely than boys to have negative body images 3 . Adolescent and young adult women account for 90% of people with eating disorders 4 .

Who Contributes to and / or Profits From Womens Negative Body Image?

The Media
The narrow standard of female beauty depicted in the media can lead to poor body image, low self-esteem, and depression in women 9 . While the ideal woman portrayed in the media is 511 and weighs 117 pounds, the average American woman is 54 and weighs 140 pounds10 . Women of color, older women, lesbian women, disabled women, poor women, and larger-sized women are consistently and systematically underrepresented in U.S. media.

Take Action on Your Campus and In Your Community!

Mentoring Program for High School Girls
Affect change in your community and provide a positive influence for high school girls by starting a Mentoring Program at a local high school focusing on feminism, body image, and self-esteem. Utilize Unit 7 of the Choices: Study and Action Manual.

Magazine/Television Writing Campaign

Organize a letter writing campaign to protest degrading images or portrayals of women in magazines, newspapers, television shows, or advertisements. Demand images that promote respect for all women.

Poor body image, low self -esteem, and eating disorders affect women of all ages, races, ethnicities, and sexualities
Women of color diet in roughly proportional numbers as white women 58% of African American women, 62% of white women, and 63% of Hispanic women are dieting5 .

The Beauty Industry

One out of every eleven commercials contains a direct message abut female beauty, and there are 10 1 / 2 times as many ads and articles on weight loss in womens magazines than in mens magazines 11 . The cosmetic industry generates over $28 billion annually12 . The plastic surgery industry, whose clientele is 90% women, is a $10 billion industry13 .

Create Your Own Media

Provide a positive alternative to mainstream media. Create a mural or collage that depicts womens bodies in a diversity of sizes, shapes, and colors. Develop a zine including articles, facts, poetry, and art exploring the issue of body image and the struggle for equality. Display murals or collages and distribute zines on campus.

Discrimination against women on the basis of physical appearance prevents us from achieving full equality
Women of size make on average $6000 less than average-weight women6. One study found that 17% of persons of size were fired because of their weight7. 26% of large women report being denied health benefits and 17% of physicians say that they would not perform a routine pelvic exam on an obese patient8.

1 , E a t i n g D i s ord e r s A w a r e n e ss & P r e v e nt i on 2 . Am e r i c a n A ss o c i a t i on o f Un i v e r s i ty W om e n 3 . D e p a rtm e nt o f H e a l th a nd Hum a n S e rv i c e s 4 . N a t i on a l Ins t i tut e f or M e nt a l H e a l th 5 . D e p a rtm e nt o f H e a l th a nd Hum a n S e rv i c e s 6 . M a i n e , 2000 7 . Th e R e l a t i on s h i p b e tw ee n O b e s i ty , Emp l oym e nt D i s c r i m i n a t i on , a nd Emp l oym e nt - R e l a t e d V i c t imi z a t i on , J ou r na l o f Vo c a t i ona l

The Diet Industry

The diet industry generates over $40 billion

a year, even though 90 -95% of diets fail14-15. Pharmaceutical Companies
In 1999, the anti-obesity prescription drug market generated revenues of $338.6 million. These profits are often obtained at the expense of womens health, as the use of drug therapy to treat obesity provides only modest weight loss and may have severe adverse effects 16 .

Film Festival
Show a film on body image and host a discussion following the film. Relevant films include Jean Kilbournes Still Killing Us Softly and Slim Hopes: Advertising & the Obsession With Thinness, Recovering Bodies: Overcoming Eating Disorders, Nappy, Real Women Have Curves, and NOWs Re-defining Liberation.

9 . I rv i n g , 1990 , R i c h i n s , 1991 10 . C as t i ng th e Am e r i c a n Sc e n e : F a i rn e ss a nd D i v e r s i ty i n Am e r i c a n T e l e v i s i on , Sc r ee n A c tor s Gu il d 11 . C as t i n g th e Am e r i c a n Sc e n e : F a i rn e ss a nd D i v e r s i ty I n Am e r i c a n T e l e v i s i on , Sc r ee n A c tor s Gu il d 12 . M a r ke t S h a r e R e port e r , 1997 13 . Am e r i c a n S o c i e ty o f P l as t i c S ur g e on s & 21 s t C e ntury M a r ke t s 14 . N a t i on a l A ss o c i a t i on f or th e Adv a n c e m e nt o f F a t A cc e pt a n c e 15 . Rothb l um , 1989 a nd N a t i on a l A ss o c i a t i on f o r th e A dv a n c e m e nt o f F a t A cc e pt a n c e

B e ha v i o r , 1990