In our society, thin bodies are idealized and heavily normalized. This is significant, since not every beauty standard leaves everyone else feeling abnormal or unattractive. We uphold this norm of thinness in some major ways: by medicalizing body size, limiting accessibility in public spaces and emphasizing “health” and diet culture at every turn. We also…
Body Talk: Your eyes are beautiful
As a person with primarily European ancestry, I am not often forced to confront the ways in which my perceived racial identity differs from what is socially acceptable. At first glance, I look like your average white bread: light skin, brown hair, brown eyes. Every so often, though, I get a question asked with the…
Body Talk: Sex positivity in a college setting
When I pitched the concept for this article to my editor, he asked me to define what sex positivity means to those who participate in it. I gave a rather rambling answer which included the de-moralization of different types of sex, throwing out the traditional model of abstinence-based sex education for a more comprehensive approach…
Body Talk: Saying something back
I have found myself in many a situation that goes something like this: the person I’m with starts talking about their new diet, or maybe commenting on someone’s weight loss, or some generally uncomfortable thing that I do not want to discuss with them. I desperately want to say something that will change their mind…
Body Talk: Unscheduled exercise is still exercise
It often seems that an inescapable truth of being a college student—and perhaps, of being human—is that we need to be sure of where the day will take us. We segment our daily activities into blocks rounded to the nearest fifteen minutes. We leave ourselves barely enough time to breathe as we desperately try to…
Body Talk: Words matter, stop saying “overweight”
Throughout my long and fruitful life, I have heard, read and participated in many discussions involving body size. Some people have the worst intentions and may be broken beyond repair—like the person who told me, scathingly, that I look like the lovechild of Jerry Seinfeld and the Pillsbury Doughboy. This article is not meant for…
Body Talk: You should never feel guilty for eating
Last week at work, I had an interaction with a customer that reminded me of why I have worked so hard to rid myself of food-related guilt. I’ll set the scene: I’m making sandwiches and contemplating the meaning of life, when in walks my new personal nightmare. She points out the cookies—those generic pre-made ones…
Body Talk: Why are body modifications unprofessional?
Take a look around most college campuses and you will notice the striking diversity in the ways students present themselves. Some are sporting tattoos, piercings or colored hair, and there is an infinite assortment of clothing styles. Yet when it comes time to interview for jobs, internships or grad school, we possess a collective understanding…
Size inclusivity
Inclusive sizing has become something of a buzzword recently. With companies claiming to make clothing “for ALL bodies,” consumers are left to wonder what really constitutes inclusivity in sizing, and why they should care. If you have ever shopped for women’s clothing, you’ll know what I mean when I say the sizing is a nightmare.…
Lawrentians do not know how to eat
Forgive me for the clickbait, but I mean it: college students really have no idea how to regulate our own eating, and the all-you-care-to-eat dining facility on campus feeds (pun intended) into the vicious cycle of dis-regulated eating. It is ultimately up to the students to recognize that our own needs supersede the food rules…