Water bottles handed out by the Woman's Coalition read, "Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women," Coalition at the Body Pride Fair at ASU Wednesday.
The Body Pride Fair, hosted by ASU Wellness and Health Promotion, lined Hayden Lawn with booths providing information for students on topics ranging from sexual health to suicide prevention. The Body Pride Fair is one of the many events designed to promote body acceptance and healthy living throughout Body Pride Week.
"We all have bodies, so we all have a body image," said Lynda Seefeldt, health educator for ASU Wellness and Health Promotion. We need to have a positive self-perception in order to engender positive thoughts and ideas, Seefeldt added.
For the last 10 years, ASU Wellness and Health Promotion has worked in conjunction with the National Eating Disorders Association to provide inspiration and hope for those suffering from negative body image.
"Students can feel conflicted while trying to balance fitting in and still feeling special," said Seefeldt. She hopes to create a campus environment in which people understand that having different body sizes is okay.
"From the time we are born we have many things that influence our body image … media is only one of them," said Seefeldt. Family, friends, peers and especially industries have an impact, she added. Facts about eating disorders and media's effect on self-image were interlaced between images of men and women from magazines on large posters in the center of the lawn as part of the display.
"The most impressive thing is that they are passing out free condoms," said art history freshman Claire Facemire. Planned Parenthood and Voices for Choice, a Planned Parenthood sponsored student organization, passed out condoms, lubricant, stickers and educational brochures to encourage safe sex.
Facemire was also impressed with the resources for gay and lesbian students displayed at the fair.
"It's really important to have gay pride and support on campus because college is the time when most people come out," she said.
Other student organizations such as AIDS Hope and the ASU National Pan-Hellenic Council set up information booths to encourage students to get tested for sexually transmitted infections and provide insight into how much is too much exercise.
"You don't have to look to pop culture to see what is healthy," art history junior Jennifer Weisman said, as she sat behind the ASU National Pan-Hellenic Council table covered in pamphlets about healthy living practices.
Pressure from the media and other industries, such as fashion, is a large part of what leads to negative body image, said Seefeldt. And the pressures are everywhere, she added.
Seefeldt hopes that Body Pride Week will stimulate an increase in campus resources for students and encourage self-acceptance.
Reach the reporter at: courtney.sargent@asu.edu.
