Body image acceptance ruled Hayden Lawn Wednesday afternoon for ASU Health and Wellness' Body Pride Fair.
Students walked down rows of panels and tables promoting body acceptance and eating-disorder awareness as music blared in the background.
English literature senior Shannon Byrnes said though she's seen the presentation before, it's always interesting to look at.
The problem of negative body image, Burnes added, is in large part a response to the media and other societal pressures.
"This is a good way to get people thinking," she said.
Creative writing sophomore Rachel Gensburg said she thinks media coverage has a big impact on how people view their bodies.
"Culture constructs almost everything we think and believe," she said. "It affects everything you do."
Lynda Seefeldt, an educator for ASU Health and Wellness Promotion, said the group has been doing the body pride event for more than 10 years in conjunction with the National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.
Panels of posters made by Health and Wellness Promotion during the past four or five years provided students with information on body image, eating disorders and body acceptance.
Health and Wellness doesn't restrict the event to just eating disorders, though, Seefeldt said.
Instead, the events promote body pride and image awareness.
"Everyone has a body, and we all have a body image, so everyone can appreciate it, " she said.
Seefeldt said body image issues are important to everyone, especially college students.
"We live in a society where body disapproval is more of a norm than approval," she said.
Economics and computer information systems sophomore Kate Jordan said, unlike the political rallies and abortion protests usually filling Hayden Lawn, the Body Pride Fair is something everyone can appreciate.
"It's important to be aware of your body image, but it's bad when it makes you so discouraged that you can't fix it," she said. "This is encouraging."
Every two years, Health and Wellness conducts a survey asking students about their body image and the way they view themselves.
The 2006 survey showed that, of the 1,222 polled, 69 percent of females and 77 percent of males were happy or accepting of their bodies.
Seefeldt said not much has changed since that poll.
"The good news it that the majority of ASU students are comfortable with their bodies," she said. "[But] we do have a percentage of students who are dissatisfied or disgusted by their bodies."
Reach the reporter at: allison.denny@asu.edu.
