Students and community members were encouraged to “come as they were” Thursday night to the Women’s Resource Center to participate in a panel discussion and Q-and-A about body image and empowerment.
Amanda Hwu, sophomore in social work, organized the event, called “As You Are,” because she saw a need for more such programs.
“I really wanted to get (body image-related events) started again and give resources to people to find out more and really explore the empowerment that comes with these kind of events,” she said.
About 50 students and community members gathered at the center where the panel shared personal experiences and discussed advancements in diagnosing eating disorders and the spectrum of weight-related health issues.
Janet Liechty, a social work professor who studies family influence on body image, was on the panel at the event. She said she has also struggled with body image.
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“I would say my healing journey was really in college when I found women’s groups like this and really for the first time deconstructed a lot of those messages that get put on us,” she said.
She emphasized the importance of resistance when “(managing) all these projections.”
Other panel members discussed cultural identity.
Jessica Robinson, a graduate student on the panel, researches hip-hop feminism and black girlhood. She spoke about the media’s portrayal of black women.
“They’re silent but their bodies are very apparent,” she said, referring to the women in music videos, which she admitted aspiring to be like as a child. “When we look at black women in the media, we’re not really looking at Michelle Obama”
Rachel Storm, program coordinator at the Women’s Resource Center, thought the program spoke to the values of the center.
“Opportunities to talk about body image open up a lot of discussion for building self-esteem in young people,” she said. “Especially college-age women are inundated with messages of body negativity that encourage them to not value their bodies and to instead have shame around their bodies.”
Andi Phillips, an alum of the School of Social Work, shared her way of “internalizing” the comments others made about her body as a girl. Instead of rejecting the notion of having a big butt, she “chose to embrace that.” It gave her a leg up when boxing out other players on the basketball court.
“I remember thinking, “Yeah, you’re right; I am going to use it. And I embraced it,” she said. “I was recognizing what my body could do.”
Maddie can be reached at [email protected].
