SWC Body Image

The aim of the Body Image Task Force is to help the entire UCLA student body combat issues of body image. We do so by hosting events, workshops, and speakers that tackle issues such as exercise, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, mental health, and self esteem. Living as college students in Los Angeles, we want to help students understand how influenced we all are by media images and we want to give students the tools to combat these influences. The media has given us a specific image of what is beautiful, and we want to encourage every student on campus to feel confident and beautiful no matter how their body looks. By improving our self esteem, we can focus less time on our physical appearance and more time on living our lives. We hope to enhance the self esteem of students by demonstrating beauty isn’t only skin-deep, and by pushing students to be positive with themselves and not to be so critical. We also want to show how physical health affects mental health. We want to teach students ways to take care of their own health which will help them feel better. For instance we emphasize healthy eating and fitness, but encourage individuals to focus on feeling good rather than looking good. We want to make help accessible to those who are struggling with body dismorphia or eating disorders. Through our programming, we hope to educate the student body on these issues and how to tackle them. The Body Image Task Force also aims to help students learn how to handle college stress. We hope to provide stress outlets because we believe that mental health is also connected to self esteem and in general happiness. As students, we all face a variety of obstacles that can ultimately hold us back. We hope to reduce these personal barriers to help each student here reach their full potential.

bodyimagetaskforce.ucla@gmail.com

Signatories: Yasmina Zaarour, Haley Hsu, and Elizabeth Haan

Advisor: Pamela R Cysner