By Mackenzie Davis
Contributing Writer

Approximately 30 Wesleyan students discussed the connection between the media and body image in the Butterfield A lounge Monday night.

"I think that people should ask themselves, ‘Why I am attracted to this type of person or this person in particular?’" said Shawn Green ’00. "An honest, informed response would tell them that they are, in fact, not making a free and unfettered decision. Rather, their decision is shaped by the culture that we live in."

The event’s organizers began the discussion with a presentation of examples of the media’s portrayal of women.

Some students were pleased with the openness of the event’s participants, especially given the personal subject matter of much of the discussion.

"I felt it was really comfortable atmosphere," said Karen Gross ’00, house manager of Womanist House. "It was an interesting cross section of the community. I was really glad that so many males participated. I think about half the group was male."

Other participants complained that the discussion should have been more personal and that it did not go into enough depth.

"I thought the discussion was good but we didn’t touch on some of the issues that were of personal interest to me," said Mike Zimbalist ’02. "I wanted to talk about the forces behind body image. Although the predominant body issue for women is thinness, to say it is the only body issue is an overstatement. People define themselves in everything from ethnic variations to receding hairline. I think that recognizing what we define as body image is important in combating stereotypes."

Others said they regretted that the discussion had not addressed more specific issues.

"I definitely learned that men and women suffer from similar issues," said Joel Zea ’01. "The focus is different in that men want to be in shape while women want to be skinny, but it is the same distortion. The only thing I didn’t like was that I wish people had opened up more to show how pervasive eating disorders are."

Liza Talusan, staff area coordinator of the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) and one of the event’s organizers, said that despite criticism, the event served its intended purpose.

"It wasn’t meant to be therapy," she said. "We just wanted to get conversation going."

The program, entitled "How Thin is Too Thin? Body Image and the Media," was hosted by Butterfield A and Womanist House in conjunction with ResLife.

"I was really pleased that so many people showed up and that they had so much to say," said Emily Allyn Barth ’02.

Barth, who is a Resident Advisor of Butterfield A, organized and facilitated the discussion in conjunction with Talusan and Karen Ben-Moshe ’02, a resident of Womanist House.

Barth said she first had the idea for the program after attending a similar session this fall, led by Talusan.

Towards the end of the event, Talusan, Barth and Ben-Moshe passed around a sign-up sheet for people interested in further discussion. They said depending on interest expressed, they would like to facilitate more in-depth conversation.

"There is only so much you can do in an hour," Barth said. "But I think some good points were made about body image, and in fact society as a whole."