The Body Project creates new space for body positivity conversations

Content warning: This article discusses eating disorders and mental health.

Disclaimer: Jessie Newman, executive features editor for the Daily, is a participant of The Body Project Collaborative at Tufts. She was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

In light of the #MeToo movement and current political climate, perceptions of and agency over our own bodies is a more relevant conversation than ever. Physically, sexually and personally, our bodies represent a large part of our sense of self. On college campuses particularly, issues with body image and body confidence, as well as eating disorders, are prevalent.

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, in the United States alone, at least 30 million people of all ages, genders, races and ethnic groups suffer from eating disorders. Among college students, a national study showed that 3.5 percent of women and 2.1 percent of men belonging to a sexual minority reported having an eating disorder, and 16 percent of transgender college students also reported having an eating disorder.

“Eating disorders are quite relevant for college campuses,” Julie Jampel, director of training at Tufts' Counseling and Mental Health Services (CMHS), said. “We see students who come in for various concerns surrounding eating, whether it’s body image issues or restrictive eating or binging and purging. I think that is pretty typical for other colleges as well.”

Jampel explained the personal and environmental factors for why college campuses are a space in which eating disorders and issues surrounding body image are particularly significant, noting that those factors also differ across gender identities.

“Some of the thinking about eating disorders is that it’s a combination of personal and environmental factors. So personal factors are more specific to a person, like family dynamics or experiences. But [there are also] ... media influences and things that go into how women in particular ... feel about themselves and their bodies,” she said.

At Tufts, the dialogue surrounding body image and eating disorders has remained largely invisible within the student body. This fall saw the start of a new group: the Tufts chapter of The Body Project Collaborative. The Body Project is originally a nonprofit organization with a mission to raise awareness about eating disorders and to promote body image positivity among women in high school and college. The organization works to provide training and promote healthy discussion on body acceptance to people who otherwise may not afford, access or be aware of resources available on those issues. The Tufts chapter, headed by sophomore Sydney Rosh, aims to bring an intentional, inclusive space and more proactive conversation about body image to the Tufts campus.

“It is basically a discussion class where we talk about body image, and the facilitators have very specific questions in order to encourage people to talk about certain things. The mission of the four [discussion] sessions is to have people in some capacity feel better about their bodies and themselves,” Rosh said.

Members of the Body Project have expressed multiple reasons for joining. For sophomoreMalaika Gabra, it was due to what she viewed as a lack of space meant specifically for these conversations to be had.

“While I definitely think it’s a conversation that a lot of people are having, I don’t feel like there was a space specifically for that. I find it interesting that there wasn’t already a club of some sort. I really enjoy that the Body Project is a space specifically for talking about these issues. The kind of conversations and ideas we are talking about between friends are very casual and ... personal, so it’s nice to know that even strangers have problems too, and to hear everyone’s point of view," she said.

For sophomoreBrendan Foley, the Body Project provided not only a chance for him to speak about these issues but also to hear about it from others.

“I never felt like I’d ever really educated myself on body issues, especially [on] campus. We never really talk about it, so I wanted to learn more,” Foley said.

Both Foley and Gabra shared their observations on the dialogue surrounding body image issues, with specific reference to the hookup culture that is present on many college campuses. Foley noted that as a queer-identifying individual, hookup culture impacts his body image in a different way from others.

“No one really talks about that [difference], and I think that’s something that keeps coming up,” he said. “All these relationships we have in college affect how we view our bodies and our self-confidence, especially when you are being vulnerable with someone who looks like you.”

Gabra also said that the presence of hookup culture in a collegiate environment affects the conversation that students will have about body image, which makes the need for a space like the Body Project more pressing.

“While I’d say that Tufts in general is body positive, I think there is something to be said about the age and stage we’re at. Hookup culture is a major factor. So the Body Project was initially intended to be for high school students, but I think it actually came at a really good time now for college students,” Gabra said.

Another student group on campus that has taken part in expanding the dialogue around body image and eating disorders at Tufts is Active Minds. According to co-president senior Brianna Pastro, the group serves a more facilitatory role between students and Tufts as an institution.

“We have monthly meetings with CMHS and we meet with the Dean of Student Affairs. They kind of see us as the liaison between Tufts students, who we tend to be more in tune with, and the administration,” she said.

Pastro explained that Active Minds at Tufts aims to promote awareness of mental health issues in general, and thus most of the group's work on body image issues is focused on programming around National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, typically during the spring semester.

Pastro has seen the conversation around body image change and grow over her time at Tufts, but she noted that it could still benefit from more diversity.

“I think a lot of people at Tufts have this idea of body image being one kind of struggle for white cis straight women who are of an average size. That’s completely valid, but I think there's a lot more that Tufts needs to do for body image focusing on plus-sized individuals, people of color, etc.,” she said. “There are a lot of groups that have been told their bodies are not valued by society. When it comes to body image, we should also talk about people whose bodies haven’t always been celebrated like trans individuals, people of color, people of [varying] sizes.”

The idea of diversifying the dialogue surrounding body image is one that Foley, as one of the few male-identifying members of the Body Project, took into consideration.

“It’s always interesting because it’s so different to talk about it as a guy. In media, it’s always a woman who’s suffering from an eating disorder and men are never depicted as having it. It’s there, just no one talks about it. I think there’s no space on campus to speak about it with other guys, it doesn’t fit into the norms of masculinity, to talk about body image,” Foley said.

Senior Kevin Sung also spoke to how his gender identity as a man has affected his experience of conversation around body image.

“Growing up, no one has ever told me or had a conversation with me about male body image,” he said. “I can’t really give a helpful answer on what healthy dialogue would look like because at this point, the ideal body image has been so cemented that I’ve never really had a comfortable conversation about it. It’s weird that I don’t know what productive a body image for men would be.”

Jampel shared steps that could be taken to include groups such as male-identifying individuals and members of the LGBTQ community, such as transgender and non-binary individuals, in such conversations.

“Shame around body image and eating disorders, while huge for women, can almost be worse for men, as for women there is more dialogue in the public eye. It would be important for men, and other minority individuals, to know that they’re not alone,” she said. “The encouragement from peer leaders, from [residential assistants], from the people they’re more likely to come in contact with is important. A culture that encourages is one of the most important things. It’s just something that’s good for all genders.”

Jampel said that CMHS currently provides prevention resources and sees students with eating disorders. Jampel also said that CMHS helps students find off-campus professionals for more specialized, long-term treatment.

Pastro added that students and the administration could further promote proactive dialogue and eating disorder prevention measures on campus, aside from the resources that CMHS provides.

“I feel like a lot of the conversations need to be started, first and foremost,” Pastro said. “A great way to start that would be through the [Group of Six] centers ... Sometimes, when we host these conversations, the issue can be that people don’t feel comfortable coming to them. We’ve had events where we realized that it wasn’t brought to a place where people felt it was accessible. A lot of the conversations need to be intentional in where they’re held, so somewhere like the LGBT Center [or] the Asian American Center would be a great idea.”

Foley said Orientation Week could serve as a way to introduce the language and topic of body image conversations to incoming Tufts students.

“[Orientation] Week is one of those times you get talked to about alcohol, drug abuse and sexual assault, and I think body image and self-worth is so important. Why not include [it] as one more thing?” Foley said. “Or even in the bathroom, on the stickers in the mirrors. That would be something, because when you’re looking in the mirror you’re thinking about your body image, and I think that would be a very relevant place to put it.”

Gabra echoed Foley's sentiment. 

“I’d say on an institutional level, Tufts could improve the dialogue we’re having about body image for all genders, even by just introducing it at a very basic level, such as orientation. So in one of the seminars where we talk about living in dorms and living together, if they could even talk a little bit about body image because it is relevant. I think with any issue, the more we talk about it, the less stigma there is around [it]. And that would be beneficial for male or transgender and non-binary students who’ve never had that before, for people who don’t even have the space to talk about that, for those who are non-conforming,” she said.

Pastro said that advocating for healthy body image dialogue and safe treatment for eating disorders are key goals in order to destigmatize these issues among college students.

“Depression and anxiety are really accepted on this campus, but others like eating disorders are not. So many students deal with it, so it’s a real shame that we’re not talking about it, and that’s one of the goals — to broaden the conversation [and] to reduce stigma,” she said.