BODY IMAGE COUNCIL: A WEEK OF COMFORTABLE GENES

Bryn Mawr's Body Image Council wants you to be comfortable in your genes. During all of Body Image Awareness Week (Feb. 26 – March 4), the Council will encourage members of the community to stop struggling against "natural, genetically influenced size" by donating "jeans that they fantasize about someday fitting into" to people who need them. The Great Jeans Giveaway, says BIC Coordinator Ruth Conboy, is part of a week of events that bring body-image issues into special focus.

"About 10 million women and girls and one million men and boys are battling eating disorders in the United States today," Conboy says. "But there are many more who, even though they may not fit the criteria for a diagnosis of an eating disorder, still have some degree of disordered eating. And there are many more than that — a majority of us, probably — who have some problem with body-image issues. While the Body Image Council exists year-round, this is the week when we make a special effort to reach all of those groups."

The council sponsors a support group that meets every Monday during the year and offers psychological and nutritional counseling (see www.brynmawr.edu/bodyimage/contact_us.shtml for a list of resources). According to Conboy, students have been very active in the Council this year, not only as members of the support group but as organizers and educators. One of next week's events is a panel discussion to be led by students who have volunteered to tell their own stories. The schedule for the week:

"Our Personal Stories: Body Image and Relationships With Food." All are welcome to this student-led panel discussion. Monday, Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., Campus Center 200.

The Great Jeans Giveaway. A box will be placed in the Campus Center foyer to collect the "skinny jeans" from the backs of Bryn Mawr's closets. Donated jeans will go to a Montgomery County women's agency. Monday through Friday, Feb. 27 – March 3.

Films: "Wet Dreams and False Images" and "Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour." BIC volunteers will air these films in dorm living rooms. "Wet Dreams and False Images," a Sundance award-winning short, looks at pinup images found on the wall of a barber shop, examining men's humorous reactions when they learn how the images have been manipulated to create illusory standards of physical perception. "Barbie Nation" plumbs the cult of the Barbie doll, telling the Barbie story of men, women and children. At the center of Barbie Nation is the story of Barbie creator and Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler.
All screenings at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 28, Radnor Living Room
Wednesday, March 1, Erdman Living Room
Thursday, March 2, Haffner Living Room

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