In American society, thin can equal beauty. In no other demographic is the pressure to be skinny felt more than in women in their late teens and early 20s. University of Kentuckystudents will lead a workshop for fellow students to discuss how they are more than just a number on a scale or a pretty face.
The Body Project workshop will be from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 in room 209 of UK’s Funkhouser Building on campus.
During the workshop, participants will complete several different activities that will help them discuss ways to resist cultural pressures and reduce the pursuit of unhealthy thinness and the achievement of a certain look. As they go through the activities, students will explore their attitudes and feelings toward their bodies.
“We work to point out unrealistic expectations that are placed on us and how we can reject that mentality,” said Teresa Lee, workshop organizer and graduate student in the UK Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. “We also practice confronting ‘fat talk’—when we or other people put our bodies down.”
To register for the workshop, email Lee at teresalee@uky.edu.