Show your body love this year:
Love Your Body Day is a nationally recognized event that takes place on Wednesday October 14th! The Women’s Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato has participated in Love Your Body Day for several years now. We have shown films, lead discussions and held other events to increase awareness about both positive and negative body image and to encourage media literacy among our students.
We are very excited to be making this year’s Love Your Body Day a TWO DAY AFFAIR! Starting on Tuesday, October 13th, we will be in the Lincoln Lounge showing media and sharing stories. On October 14th we will have an interactive display in Mav Ave where students can literally SHRED their insecurities. Please join us both days for informative and fun displays that uphold the values originally created by National Organization for Women.
What you need to know:
Love Your Body Day was founded by NOW (National Organization for Women) to challenge the message that a woman’s value is best measured through her willingness and ability to embody current beauty standards. According to their manifesto, people from all over can collectively combat the influence of the media by exposing false ideals.
Recognizing these narrow standards as unrealistic and unhealthy helps women to understand the often negative influence of these stereotypical western beauty standards. Collectively we can educate each other on what healthy really is, discuss and expose the media’s use of Photoshop and retouching and altering of photos, and remind each other that everybody is beautiful! We can speak out through social media, in classes or in letters to media editors against the negative portrayal of women.
We can be models of self-acceptance and love in front of young children and each other, support television shows and advertisements that show diversity and realistic versions of women, and take action to change our culture for the better!
Here are the facts:
* One study reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies.” This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen.
* Studies at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts found that 70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines.
* 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life.
* Females between 15 and 25 years old who suffer from anorexia nervosa, the mortality rate associated with the illness is 12x higher than the death rate of all other causes of death.
Love Your Body Resources
More on Love Your Body Day: http://now.org/now-foundation/love-your-body/love-your-body-whats-it-all…
Videos of Women Talking About Body Love: http://now.org/now-foundation/love-your-body/lets-talk-about-it/
A simple breakdown of how advertising campaigns can be harmful: http://now.org/now-foundation/love-your-body/ads/
Learn more about the Women’s Health Project: http://now.org/now-foundation/love-your-body/love-your-body-whats-it-all…