| Fall 1999
Love Your Body Day: Panel explores gender issues Making a major shift: A letter from MN NOW lobbyist Susal Stebbins New cosmetic surgery technique makes emulating false standards of beauty dangerously easy Conventioneers discuss proposed Feminist Communications Network National NOW conference a "head-spinning" experience Headwaters Walk for Justice draws 700 participants
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Love Your Body Day: Panel explores gender issues
By Jill Pearson-Wood When Amy Piccolino was a young girl, she carried some extra weight as she was growing into her tall frame. Children teased her relentlessly, causing her to change elementary schools three times. By the time she got to high school, Amy’s weight evened out and she got involved with athletics. Her weight loss led the way to her becoming popular. She was even voted “most changed for the better” based on her looks. As her popularity grew though, Amy became fearful of gaining the weight back and falling back into her “former” life. “Girls were saying ‘How do I look like you,’” she said. “I thought, I can’t lose this.” So, at 16, Amy was taking maximum strength diet supplements on a daily basis, skipping meals and over exercising. Amy got down to 125 pounds on her 5-foot, 10-inch frame. “I got praise, so I kept going,” she said. The only thing that stopped her was her heart — she almost went into cardiac arrest. Today, Amy is healthy although she says she’ll never be fully recovered. “That scared little girl will always be a part of me,” she said. Amy is one of several women who shared stories about their struggle with body image at Minnesota NOW’s Love Your Body Day (LYBD) event at Metro State University Sept. 22. The Minnesota program was held in tandem with other National NOW LYBD events throughout the country, with the purpose of speaking out against images of women that are offensive, harmful, dangerous and disrespectful. MN NOW’s event began with a showing of National NOW’s body image video “Redefining Liberation,” which examines the impact media and advertising have on women. A seven-person panel then discussed the video and some shared their own struggles with body image. “The goal of advertising is to make us feel we need something,” said Gloria Steinem in the “Redefining Liberation” video. “But they need us more than we need them.” Unfortunately, many women look to advertising and media for role models. Even women whom you wouldn’t expect. Panelist Andrea Lloyd Curry of the Minnesota Lynx said when people look at her they think she has it together because she’s a professional athlete. “But I still waste time worrying about this stuff,” she said. “How I look. What I eat. These are things that are brought up in conversations every day.” Past MN NOW President Julie Blaha said she’s surprised by how often she thinks about body image issues throughout the day. “I think about how much I could accomplish if I didn’t have to think about this,” she said. To look healthy is not a value conveyed in advertising. Being skinny is, said Sharon Rice Vaughn of Metro State. “Society creates painful objects of women,” she said. “The idea you have to be airbrushed to be beautiful is so destructive.” And those dangerous images of women have extended to girls as young as grade schoolers. Eighty percent of fourth-graders have dieted. They do it because they see something wrong with their bodies, said Gretchen Goff of The Emily Program. “Dieting is the cause of eating disorders, but no one speaks out against dieting,” Goff said. So if what Gloria Steinem says about advertisers needing us more than us needing them is true, why do women continue to buy into harmful beauty standards? Because it’s reinforced in every aspect of our culture, Amy said. From talk shows to media reports to TV programs and movies. “There is such an obsession with people’s appearance,” she said. There are examples of good ads if you look for them, however, said Pam Armour, one of the coordinators of MN NOW’s LYBD event. The Gap and Calvin Klein don’t feature the ideal beauty in their advertisements, she said. Women can encourage other companies to follow suit if they speak out against offensive advertising, Blaha said. “Start voting with your checkbook,” she said. “Let advertisers know what you think. They do notice it.” People can also make a difference by reaching out to children, pointing out their other strengths, and not emphasize looks, Blaha said. “Instead of saying ‘you’re pretty,’ remind them they’re creative, charismatic. Tell them what they did. It will make a difference.” It’s never too early to start discussing body image issues, said Panelist Nancy Bronk, a University of Minnesota student. “I teach preschool and kids ask ‘how come you wear pants? Boys wear pants. Fat girls wear pants,’” she said. For Andrea, it was her father who helped her through adversity as a child. “When I was told I couldn’t do something, he helped me,“ Andrea said. “Don’t underestimate the importance you have on someone’s life. Be a support system for people whose lives you touch.” |