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Why body image campaigns get it right (and have room to progress)

On April 23,Colter Smith argued that body image campaignshave frequently erred in their attempts to promote a healthier environment insofar as they only target the conception that one’s body isn’t beautiful, rather than unhealthy attributions of self-worth. He makes some interesting points, but I think he largely misinterprets not only the intent of the “As I Am” campaign on campus, but also many of the motives behind other movements aimed at fostering a more positive body image.

I agree that “we need to encourage students to focus on what causes them to ‘be’ great, rather than what makes them ‘look’ great.” Self-worth should never be derived from a singular thing, and instead should be assumed at a basic level and not based upon any arbitrary measurements. The issue here, however, is the mindset that Colter himself identifies in which self-worthishinged largely upon appearance. In that case, it is not as simple as only finding other “loci of value” and celebrating that. This can and should happen; I would love to see a photo campaign in which students hold up signs answering the question “What do you believe makes you great?” In many cases, though, before students suffering from any sort of body image issues can proceed, they must break free of the box in which they are trapped.

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Inside this box, people may recognize that they are great or loved for characteristics independent of appearance, but there often exists a disconnect between that knowledge and one’s actual experiences. And so, for those struggling and for those struggling to understand, the focus can and should be upon celebrating bodies for what they are and honoring everyone’s unique experience. This is what I believe the “As I Am” campaign and body image campaigns in general seek to accomplish. In asking “What do you feel about your body and why?” it illuminates the pervasiveness of this issue and allows those suffering to honor the fact that there is no easy solution. It’s not as simple as expecting to relearn a basis of self-worth by distracting from a deeply-ingrained mentality.

All of this attention does cast a high amount of attention on nutrition, exercise, and other matters pertaining to body image and eating disorders more specifically. Colter argues that this emphasis and attention “tell [him] that the people around [him] consider their appearance very important to them and that perhaps I should, too.” However, the “As I Am” campaign, by allowing that thought to cross the mind of someone who has apparently never had issues with body image, attempts to create a sense of empathy on campus while offering resources for those who might be suffering and already locked in such a detrimental cycle of intense focus on one’s body and food.

I do believe, however, that campaigns in the future that seek to contribute to the conversation on body image on campus need to move past this general awareness and acceptance of experience; I don’t think, however, that a campaign fundamentally about body image can progress without speaking of the topic itself, as Colter seems to argue. Rather, the next in a line of questions posed to the student body can be “What does your body allow you to do?” By broaching the subject of a body’s beautiful capacity, internal dialogues can be shifted from the purely aesthetic value (which in itself is highly subjective) to the functional. And when one begins to think of all one’sbodyallows one to do, the natural progression can be towards what Colter urges—what does one’s mind allow one to do, and what can one do in general. There has to be a first link in this chain, however, and that is where I think body image campaigns get it right, but have room to grow.

Kelly Hatfield is a sophomore from Medford, Mass. She can be reached at kellych@princeton.edu.

 

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