Body image concerns permeate campus

Author: Tess Russell

Next time you are standing in line at the mailroom, desperately waiting for that contraband electric blanket from Mommy Dearest, take a random sample of the people around. You will likely find representatives from different nations, races and socioeconomic backgrounds.

And yet, as Middlebury looks to the future and takes strides to enrich the College's population with students from diverse backgrounds, there is still one area in which the campus remains shockingly homogeneous. Look again at that sample chances are that most (if not all) of its specimens seem spry and enviably slim.

There is certainly a logical explanation for this phenomenon. Nestled amidst the slopes and trails of the Vermont countryside, Middlebury has always attracted outdoorsy types who, simply by nature of the school's setting, become increasingly active upon matriculation. There is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with shedding a few pounds on your weekly jaunts to Mt. Abraham or Camel's Hump, but when those results are coupled with an escalating national fixation on weight and body image, it can put undue pressures on students to stay fit.

Personally, I am inclined to pass off my morning trek up the hill from Homestead House as my daily dose of cardio, so the "gym culture" (as it has been dubbed) at Middlebury has been particularly striking to me in my first semester here. In addition to the 28 percent of students participating in varsity sports, another considerably large portion are involved with junior varsity, club,and intramural teams. Countless others hit the weight room, or the ground (running), anywhere from every week to several times each day.

Recent events, including the "Surrender Your Booty" party, have incited controversy regarding the ways in which body image and expected gender roles are perceived on campus. Ryan Tauriainen '08, the first male officer in FAM's history, has also filmed two documentaries, focusing on body image concerns at Middlebury, both of which will premiere at the Nov. 2 "Love Your Body" event.

"Middlebury is unique in the fact that it includes a large population of people who are physically active, attractive and dress well," Tauriainen said. "This is a direct result of the College being inhabited by mostly affluent students. There is an unconscious pressure to be in shape, especially since the dynamic of this campus is to be fit and look good."

Indeed, it is impossible to talk openly about over-exercising or restrictive eating without first acknowledging that these problems crop up predominantly in certain strata of the general population strata which are heavily represented at Middlebury. There seems to be a shared, if unspoken, belief among even the most sensitive and enlightened students that an affliction like anorexia nervosa is, to some degree, a "disease of privilege" because it primarily affects Caucasian females from upper middle-class backgrounds.

Yet Virginia Logan, from the Center for Counseling and Human Relations, noted that that the incidence of these "critical condition" cases is fairly low on campus, but that general concerns about body image crop up across the board, in students of all demographics.

"These insecurities are almost always seen in combination with a host of other issues as a result of perfectionism and extreme self-criticism, which occur in a surprisingly high percentage of students," Logan explained.

"At this age, students are in the process of sorting out their own identities, and are at a stage of engaging with love interests≠ - they are looking to connect emotionally, spiritually, and sexually with someone else, " she continued. "When that's going on, students who are already self-critical can become hyperconscious of how they are presenting themselves."

Dealing with this problem is particularly hard, for the very reason that students experiencing low self-esteem or feelings of powerlessness tend to be inherently secretive about and even ashamed of their behavior. Logan admitted that it has been difficult to keep a regular support group operating, because there is just so much concealment on the part of the sufferers.

That reticence might help to explain the general lack of discussion on the subject at Middlebury≠.

Men in particular are much less likely to vocalize their private qualms over their appearance, even among friends, because any admittance of 'weakness' can be emasculating.

"Many people do not realize that the image of male perfection is quickly changing into something harder and harder to achieve," Tauriainen said. "Men are judged physically on their athleticism, which is often depicted through large, defined muscles≠. Societal expectations of this sort can lead to muscle dysmorphia (nicknamed 'bigorexia') in which the person is never satisfied with his level of strength."

So what steps can we, as a community, take to foster healthy habits among our members? First, we might do well to follow the lead of the women's cross country team which, under head coach Terry Aldrich, has adopted a proactive approach to nip negative patterns in the bud. Every female runner now undergoes unannounced weekly weigh-ins as part of a collaboration between Aldrich and College Trainer Sue Murphy, who declined to comment for this article.

When I first head about these sessions, the concept of a procession of athletes lining up in front of a row of scales struck me as Spartan and, frankly, kind of creepy. But Aldrich maintained that the new policy is the best way to insure the health and wellness of his team members.

"Health is my number one concern, and no national championship is worth sacrificing the health of my team," Aldrich said. "Bone growth stops somewhere in a person's mid 20s, so inadequate nutrition during the college years can have significant ramifications later in life."

Team captains Chrissy Fulton '08 and Ceara Danaher '08 also weighed in on the weigh-ins. Both women believe that a sports-wide requirement, much like the one in place at Amherst, would be in the interest of all athletes.

"I think it's important for people to understand that this isn't a cold, thoughtless procedure," Fulton said. "If the coaches and trainers think that there might be an issue, they work with that athlete, the college physician and the college counselors to figure out what is wrong. With that said, it certainly felt a little unfair at first, and maybe still since our women's team is the only team participating in the weigh-ins."

For her part, Danaher stressed that communication is key.

"We are constantly striving for a supportive, healthy atmosphere," Danaher said. "There is openness and honesty between athletes, coaches and medical staff, and the team watches out for its own simply out of concern and friendship. When it comes down to it, we just want to run fast and enjoy doing it, now and well into the future."

The bottom line is that students entering Middlebury are more informed about nutrition, and health in general, than ever before, and that has many positive benefits including - as Aldrich cited -- a significant decrease in smoking on campus. At the same time, this hyperconsciousness of our physiques can have potentially devastating consequences when it leads to a skewed perception of what is "normal," and what is "healthy."

After all, we live in a superficial and image-preoccupied world, and the old adage that we should accept people of all shapes and sizes might be simply unrealistic. Perhaps the best we can do, then, is to create a dialogue that helps students learn to strike the right balance and not take pursue fitness to dangerous extremes.

"When someone opts for a workout instead of dinner at Proctor, I think they might be taking it too far," said Bente Madson '11. "That kind of preoccupation on campus can make a lot of perfectly healthy people much mor
e self-conscious than they need to be."