Eschewing standards of body image

"Start a revolution, love your body." "Take up space." "Fuck your fascist beauty standards." These words adorned the chests of Guidance for Understanding Image, Dieting and Eating activists Friday evening at the first-ever national student conference on body image. Fittingly, a plentiful buffet greeted over 100 students as they filed into the Terrace Room of Logan Hall to listen to the night's speeches. "For the past 20 to 30 years, being thin has been the ideal for society and for individual women," said University President Judith Rodin, the welcoming speaker. "Having the right weight and the right appearances has become the norm for success for many women." The Body Culture on Campus conference, which consisted of students from schools nationwide including Michigan State University, Princeton University and Bryn Mawr College, sought to promote an atmosphere of positive body culture. "Activism comes in all forms," said Miriam Kiss, a GUIDE executive board member and College senior. "We have chosen to use the word 'body culture' because we wanted to emphasize that body image is an issue that transcends race, culture and class." The diversity of the participants created an easygoing forum for discussing the often-touchy subject of body image. "I thought it was really amazing, having people come from all over the country," said Archana Jayaram, a GUIDE executive board member and College senior. "I feel that people really synthesized their viewpoints and came up with a lot of new information and ways to approach that information." The conference paid a great deal of attention to the male perspective on both male and female body image. "I want to be a pretty girl and have someone look at me with pride," sang keynote speaker Scott Fried, AIDS activist and professional speaker, who put some humor into the opening of his hour-long speech on how body image has affected him both as a man and a homosexual. "Overweight people have become the last bastion of accepted prejudice, and I mean this with some irony and of course a lot of bitterness," Fried said. "I've learned a lot and lost a lot in the past 13 years because I couldn't accept my body." The conference continued on Saturday with 16 different workshops on issues ranging from Body Art to Judaism and Body Image. "Saturday was incredible," Kiss said. "The energy in the rooms was frightening and overwhelming." There was an open mic session in which students and guests shared their views on body image in a more creative setting -- one student rapped about mental evolution, while another did a dramatic performance of her response to society's ideals. "It was a room full of really cool people doing very interesting things," Kiss said. Historically, body image has been a feminine issue. But the conference sought to transcend this idea and extend its reach to the male community. "Studies indicate that, with gay men, there tends to be a higher propensity for body image issues," said Michael Rogan, a Wharton senior and member of GUIDE. "They have the unique problem where the object that they desire reflects back on themselves. If a gay man desires a man with a six-pack, he in turn feels the need for a six-pack." Penn students in particular may be more susceptible to body issues, according to students. "It's so funny to be at a campus with a lot of people that derive their self-confidence from their body image," said Ranjani Sankaran, a College junior and GUIDE member. "Everyone is always at the gym," College junior Jessica Pomerantz said. "Everyone eats salads. I think that a lot of people look in the mirror and see something that they aren't."