Body Shaming talks with York College’s Womens center

By Natesha Folkes

The York College Women’s Center recently hosted a discussion for women about body shaming.

The event was open to women of all ages. The Director of the Women’s Center, Ebonie Jackson, said the topic came from the idea of keeping the theme “Women in Beauty.”

“In addition to the girl talks that we have every month, we also have a book club,” said Jackson .“This month the book that we are reading is called The Beauty Myth. It talks a lot about women and beauty and what that means and how it’s perceived. We’ve been reading the book since the first of the month and one of the ladies here said let’s keep that theme going for the entire month.”

Some students said that having a “thigh gap,” which requires a thin figure, causes girls with thicker bodies to feel insecure. And yet still some thin girls endure teasing because of their body types.

Bellene Fisher, 22, a double-major in English and Theater, said she believes fat shaming is far worse than skinny shaming.

“Being skinny is sort of the desired thing to have,” said Fisher “Especially if you’re a woman, it’s more important.”  

 In her theater experiences Fisher also mentioned how directors are least likely to cast a fat actress over a skinny actor.

“The ideal body type is having a small cinched waist, a small stomach, and a big butt.” she said. “I’m an actress and I want to work in film and television, but the thing is that I have to lose weight because most of the actresses you see on television are skinny.”  

Colby Williams,  a Psychology major at York, said everyone will be hated on for their body type. “They’re both equally bad,” said Williams. “No matter what the scenario is, they’re both still wrong and you’re still hurting someone’s feelings.”

Williams said her weight should not be be a problem in a relationship if a person is genuinely interested. “If you truly want to be with someone, you’ll overlook that one ‘flaw’ that isn’t as appealing for the ninety-nine percent that you find is attractive.”

Anthony Mason, a York Psychology major, said he does not have anything bad to say about a person because of their weight. “I wouldn’t let my friends make fun of a bigger or smaller person in front of me.” said Mason “I would tell them to chill out and that’s it.”  

Jackson mentioned the occurrence of  women being judgmental of themselves and of others and belives any woman should be able to wear what they want and still be classy. “I think that no matter what size you are, women have a right to dress how they want and still feel sexy and tasteful.” she said “There are more options to do that now and it’s a good thing.”

  Jackson said the talk’s overall goal involved helping people get past body insecurities. She also said she wants the discussion to boost self confidence.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” she said. “Legitimize your own feelings, and say hey this is how I’m feeling. It’s not great but it is what it is.  And say ‘I’m going to try to overcome it.”