SPEAKER OFFERS A MULTICULTURAL VIEW OF EATING ISSUES

On Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m., sociologist Becky Thompson will give a presentation titled "A Thousand Hungers: A Multiracial View of Eating Problems and Recovery." The lecture/discussion, sponsored by the Body Image Council and the Office of Intercultural Affairs, will take place in Thomas Great Hall. It is free and open to the public.

Thompson is the author of A Hunger So Wide and So Deep, a groundbreaking study that challenged the common perception of eating problems as an issue primarily limited to white, affluent, heterosexual women. Based on interviews with African-American, Latina and lesbian women, A Hunger So Wide chronicles the effects of racism, poverty, sexism, acculturation, and sexual abuse on women's bodies and eating patterns.

"Becky W. Thompson has provided a rigorous and impassioned study of eating problems, casting a special light on the experiences of women of color. Linking unhealthy eating patterns to the oppression women suffer in a society both sexist and racist, Thompson breaks new ground and offers hope for the multitudes of women who have swallowed their pain," said Evelyn C. White, editor of The Black Women's Health Book.

Thompson is also the co-editor (with Sangeeta Tyagi) of Beyond a Dream Deferred: Multicultural Education and the Politics of Excellence and author of A Promise and a Way of Life: White Antiracist Activism and Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother's Love, Black Son's Courage.

Thompson's lecture is one of the events on the calendar for Diversity Week. The theme of eating and body size will also be taken up at this week's Diversity Conversation, titled One Size Does Not Fit All, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Multicultural Center on Friday, Oct. 21. The discussion will be led by Body Image Council coordinator Ruth Conboy and Muska Nassery '06; lunch will be served.

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