My name is Julie Miller and I am about to graduate this May with a degree in Journalism. I am marrying my best friend this summer and then will move back down to Texas where I was born, but always wanted to move away from. I love people and writing with a passion, so the most logical choice was to combine the two and become a journalist. I hope through my career to tell stories of hope, instead of the police blotter we are often bombarded with. Each class I take helps me gain perspective into people's lives and body image is one of the most sensitive subjects. I chose to take this class because it is something I have struggled with, as well as many other women I know.
The 21st century is a whole new beast for body image because so much technology has been developed that lets us analyze ourselves and compare it to others. The most feared thing among newscasters is HD, because it shows all their imperfections. The most pressing issues we face are weight, skin clarity, acceptance of body shape, mental and emotional stress caused by dissatisfaction with one's body, eating disorders and unhealthy messages sent by the media.
Through this course, I hope to gain a better understanding of myself. I am reaching an age where I am more comfortable with myself and my body, but I struggled with an eating disorder in high school. To me, I thought I needed to count every calorie, but I weighed all of 90 pounds. It often surprises me how lightly people take eating disorders when I know it is one of the most prevalent and scarring issues for men and women. It's the silent disease.
Questions for this semester?
1. How have acceptable body shapes changed throughout time?
2. Why does Hollywood dictate what is the norm?
3. Why isn't there more awareness for eating disorders?
4. What type of body do most men like because usually it is not the waif thin look.
5. How can I help other women become comfortable in their skin?
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Oh Julie, I am so happy for you that you are graduating this May AND are getting married in July! What an exciting year for you! I still remember the first day of Body Image class and you were about 3 seats away to the right, then we started talking about something and to hear one another better you moved closer and I'm so glad you did! And then come to find out, we were both from the Gaylord College! Fabulous!... With all the newly developed technology in this century it IS allowing the images people have of themselves to spiral downward . Thankfully, I have matured more and am happy with myself and who I am (however I still have my moments). High definition TV is like a microscope for the human face and anything that appears on the screen. This can lead to constant photoshopping for whatever comes across the screen and for people to see these perfect photoshop images and want to be just like them. Then they'll begin their contributions to the billion and million dollar industries for making themselves look to what they believe is "better."
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