Across the nation many universities observe a Love Your Body Week, but what is it?
Love Your Body Week (LYBW) is a national campaign that aims to raise awareness about body image and promote body confidence by celebrating body diversity. The idea of the campaign is that every body is a valid body.
A big supporter of this movement is the Butterfly Foundation based in Australia. The Butterfly Foundation found that one in two people surveyed said their body weight and shape was important compared to other things in their life. Yet over 40% of people were unhappy with their appearance.
Furthermore, they found that 50% of people don’t participate or do things they enjoy because of how they feel about their appearance.
Much of this mentality stems from the unrealistic beauty standards left in people’s minds. This is often talked about in regards to woman and young girls, but for males it is talked about less.
Ferris pre-physical therapy freshman Kenneth Smith is glad that Ferris is providing the time and space for students to learn about body positivity. Smith participates in body building and is consistently at the Student Recreation Center, working on becoming the best that he can be and always encourages others to be there best as well.
“These types of events on campus provide an opportunity for those who don’t work out to start that kind of lifestyle,” Smith said. “Often you find that people are intimated or just don’t have the knowledge they need to get started. So, with an event like this it can help bring those people together along with others in the same boat as them.”
Social media is seen to be a leading cause in some having a negative view in their body image and Smith agrees with this.
“With social media the way it is today, it’s easy to find models online that some may say have a ‘perfect’ body,” Smith said. “It can cause people to compare themselves to that. In reality it often times isn’t true what they see. Many fitness models use camera work and lightning to alter photographs. Many people don’t think about this though.”
Another influence social media can have is through sponsorships. Companies such as Flat Tummy Tea, which primarily sells a detox diet tea and meal supplements, often reach out to various influencers on platforms such as Instagram to get them to advertise their products. The problem with this is that influencers can make it out to seem as if only drinking the detox tea product was what made them lose weight. If used unproperly, these supplements can be an unhealthy and a dangerous way for people to lose weight.
Smith also believes that both men and women struggle with being content with their body image equally. “Men may hide it more than women for their own reasons, but it definitely is something everyone deals with.” Smith said.
LYBW is aiming to help teach students to do the opposite of this. The goal is to show students they should love their body and learn the proper ways to truly take care of it.
Love Your Body Week will run the week of Feb. 10 to the 14. With various events being held at the Student Recreation Center. Students can see what time these events are being held on