Ever since Duke's 2003 Women's Initiative report coined the term "effortless perfection" to describe pressures faced by female students at the University, body image has been a hot topic on campus.
To kick off "Celebrating Our Bodies Week," ESTEEM peer educators hosted a panel Monday entitled "Culture and Body Image" to address current feelings among students on the issue of body consciousness.
In particular, the panel discussed how various cultural factors play into perceptions about physical attractiveness and self-image.
"One of the things we want to focus on is having a more cultural perspective," said senior Dawn Eichen, president of ESTEEM peer educators, a student group that aims to eliminate eating misconceptions among students.
The panel was made up of four students-three females and one male-who represented various regions of the country, social groups at Duke and cultural backgrounds. The panelists described how these factors affect their own views on body image.
"Skin color is a really big deal in Indian culture-to be very fair skinned," said panelist Christine James, a senior and president of the peer education group Healthy Devils. "There is actually a cream called Fair and Lovely that Indian women use to make their skin lighter."
The conversation centered mainly on issues of weight and fitness and how these characteristics seem to be at the forefront of campus culture.
"Growing up in Hong Kong, it seemed like nobody dieted, so it was new to me when I came to the United States," said panelist Janice Wilson, a senior who is half Chinese. "I think at Duke, Asian Americans face the same pressures as white kids."
Senior Zach Bencan, the only male on the panel, said he noticed that body image pressures seemed to correlate with the high academic and social expectations that students face at the University.
"I think what makes it uniquely Duke is that not only do you have to be in good shape, but you also have to be very intelligent and go out two or three nights a week," Bencan said.
In addition to the Duke students who attended the panel, a number of students from North Carolina Central University also came to hear about body image pressures at Duke and offer experiences from their own campus.
NCCU junior Sheree Boykin said during the discussion that in the African-American community, which makes up a large proportion of NCCU's student body, people can feel beautiful no matter what size they are. She added that concerns about obesity are generally more health-related in her culture.
"It seems to me that there's a big difference between body image at Duke and NCCU," Boykin said.
Audience member Celia Glass, a sophomore at Duke, said she found the event interesting and was glad to see such a good turnout but added that she was surprised by the content of the discussion.
"I expected people to be more critical of the Duke environment," Glass said.
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