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Jacque
Lenz | Chief Photographer
Sophomore 5-foot-7-inch Juanita Gainsford
(l) and freshman 5-foot-4-inch Kimberly A. Stark (r) stand
in front of the 7-foot-3-inch Barbie cutout at Cascades
Cafe in Plemmons Student Union Tuesday afternoon.
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by Jennifer Schneider
Staff Writer
Barbie and The Rock will travel around campus to get students in
the thick of society’s obsession with being thin.
It is all part of next week’s Body Workshop, sponsored by
the Campus Eating Concerns Task Force, SURE and the Counseling Center.
“Hopefully the programs will both educate and challenge the
perceptions people have regarding beauty and foster more self-acceptance,”
campus psychologist Dr. Denise M. Lovin said.
The annual week devoted to eating disorders is held to increase
awareness and start conversation among students.
The week starts with “Tea Off Your Spring with Self-Esteem.”
Students will hand out cups of tea Monday at 11 a.m. on Sanford
Mall. Each cup has a motivational saying to help students find acceptance
within them.
Lovin said at any given time 25 percent of men and 50 percent of
women are on a diet.
“We want people to explore new views of themselves and other
people,” master’s candidate of clinical psychology Jennifer
A. Meyer said.
She said her favorite quotes are “scales are for fish, not
women” and “size is important, but it is the size of
your heart, not the size of your body, that matters.”
From noon to 1 p.m. Monday there will be a workshop titled “Eating
Disorders: What are They and How Can I Help Myself or a Friend?”
After a PowerPoint presentation, there will be a question and answer
session as well as role-play activities on how to help friends with
body image issues.
“I think it is really important for people to be informed
about eating disorders and what is out there to help them,”
freshman psychology major Laura E. Beebe said.
The Jean Kilbourne film “Killing Us Softly 3” will be
shown Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.
“People seem to be surprised after watching the film as to
how as a culture we are obsessed with looking young and thin,”
Lovin said. “It is an unrealistic image for both men and women
and we are brainwashed to believe it.”
At 5:30 p.m. a program titled “One Size Doesn’t Fit
All” will be held as a challenge for participants to examine
their size esteem and learn how to find pride in one’s body
no matter what the size or shape.
“We have a seven day challenge for students to take weight
out of their vocabulary and talk about other good qualities they
have,” Meyer said.
“Eating Disorders,” “Killing Us Softly 3”
and “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” will all be held
in the Table Rock Room of Plemmons Student Union.
Wednesday at noon “An Idiots Guide to Dietary Supplements”
will be held in Room 062 of Holmes Convocation Center. At the workshop,
attendees will learn how diet supplements affect the body.
“Lots of people do things they see on television. Whoopi Goldberg
is selling Slim-Fast so people blindly start a diet,” Lovin
said. “We want to increase knowledge by offering facts about
how supplements affect a body’s performance.”
The sponsors will hold an eating disorder screening from 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m. in the Watauga River Room of Plemmons Student Union for
anyone wondering if they might have an eating disorder.
“Our goal is for people to stop thinking they have to be thin
to be happy and start appreciating their worth as a person,”
Lovin said. “Confidence should come from more than just a
number on a scale.”
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