“Real Women, Real Bodies,” a new RSO on campus, hosted a presentation in Knight Hall last evening on the topic of self esteem.
“Real Women, Real Bodies” centers around individuals having issues with self esteem and body image. The three women who established the organization include Sydney Stein, founder and president of the organization, Hannah King and Morgan Looney.
“I find body image interesting,” Stein said. “Even as a thinner girl, I have always had qualms about my body and I feel it is important to address these issues.”
The group brought in Jasmine Austin, a communication graduate student and public speaking instructor at the University of Wyoming. She initially became interested in self esteem when she was in middle school when she and her mother listened to “Video,” by India every day. This continued for the next five years to make sure she “understood the importance of comparing yourself to… yourself.” She said she is currently working on helping people assess the truth about how they feel about themselves and building their perception of themselves.
“This topic is important because it affects everyone and it is such a dynamic construct,” said Austin. “Helping people realize that they are responsible for their level of self esteem can really transform their idea of who and what the are. By no means are we completely perfect and awesome, but through these seminars, at least we realize that there are things we are great at and things we can work on.”
Austin began with an interactive PowerPoint questionnaire “What Is Self Esteem?” which addressed how self esteem affects performance, mental health, interaction with others and willingness to experience new things. She also included videos of individuals participating in poetry slams that challenge society’s issues with natural beauty and the skewed perception of beauty in the media, as well as theory concepts of influential psychologist Carl Rogers. Rogers theorized that the view of self concept has three parts: self image, self worth and the ideal self.
“I feel as though everyone participated and got something out of the conversation,” Stein said. “I am so glad Jasmine was able to bring us together and inspire us to talk about these pertinent issues.”
University of Wyoming student Conroy Stout, the only male who attended, said he came to the session because Austin is a not only his co-worker, but also his friend.
“Body image certainly is a problem in today’s society,” Stout said. “Not only for women but men as well. The presentation affected me by giving me a broader perspective on how women feel objectified in our society and by the media but mostly allowed me to understand how it is that can affect someone’s self confidence and that you as a person and that anyone as a person can take control of that, can take responsibility for that action themselves and increase their own self esteem.”
Stout said body images affects not only women, but also men in society.
“It’s not just women who feel objectified all the time, despite the fact that they are more pervasively objectified,” Stout said.
Natawsha Mitchell, a junior at UW, said she thought the topic was especially important because she can relate to it personally and because she said these issues can have a damaging effect on an individual’s health, happiness and productivity.
“I loved the presentation,” Mitchell said. “Jasmine did a wonderful job and was really successful in creating a welcoming and supportive atmosphere where everyone felt comfortable discussing such a delicate topic. It was really helpful to get some solid definitions of terms that are thrown around so often, and talking about issues with other people boosted my confidence.”
Stein said she would like “Real Women, Real Bodies” to become one of the main RSOs on campus that many people would be informed of.
“I would like the organization to grow into a positive force on campus that holds large events and unveils a highly anticipated campaign once per semester,” Stein said.
“Real Women, Real Bodies” is tabling in the Union for the duration of the week. The RSO is also expecting to exhibit another speaker, have a campus-wide scavenger hunt, participate in the women’s conference, along with many more future events.
