Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
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Diversity and empowerment celebrated at Leeds Beckett Body Image and Eating Disorders Awareness week
Taking place from Monday 22 to Friday 26 February across Leeds and York city centres, the week of events has been organised by Leeds Beckett Senior Lecturers in Psychology, Glen Jankowski, Dr Nova Deighton-Smith and Dr Helen Fawkner, and Senior Lecturer in Sport, Dr Megan Hurst, with Dr Beth Bell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at York St John University.
Glen Jankowski commented: “Eating disorders charity BEAT estimates that at least 725,000 men and women in the UK are affected by an eating disorder in some way. Feeling unhappy with any aspect of one’s appearance, body dissatisfaction, affects even more people. This is a major problem. Body dissatisfaction and eating disorders affect our health, our work, our relationships with each other and more.
“Narrow and ubiquitous media appearance ideals mean the problems of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders are only increasing. The aim of our Body Image and Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2016 is to raise awareness of body image and disordered eating issues and begin to challenge the toxic cultural conditions that contribute to these problems. This week consists of a series of seminars, workshops, interactive stalls and public lectures designed to raise awareness about these issues in Leeds and York.”
The first event of the week will take place on Monday 22 February from 7pm to 9pm at the Duke of York pub in Kings Square, York. This event, called ‘Body image: Psychology in the Pub’, has been organised by the British Psychological Society (BPS) North East of England branch. Drawing on examples from popular culture, from the airbrushing of adverts to #fitspiration on social media, Dr Megan Hurst and Glen Jankowski will take the audience of a tour of the wealth of psychological research into the media and its influence on our feelings about our bodies, our relationships with other people and our wellbeing. Glen’s research focuses on men’s experiences of culture and their bodies whilst Megan’s focuses on how women’s and girls’ experiences of objectification influence their motivation for exercise and their feelings about their bodies.
The politics of black looks is the subject of Tuesday 23 February’s lecture and workshop at the University’s city centre Rose Bowl building. Taking place from 5.30pm to 8pm, this will start with a lecture on the regulation of the black body, including the hierarchy of skin shades and the politics of black women’s hair by Marvina Newton. Marvina is a Leeds-based activist and founder of Angels of Youths, a community helping young people to build their dream careers and attain their desired lifestyles. Following the lecture, attendees will be getting hands-on with a ‘craftivism’ workshop, subverting racialised appearances in the media (for example skin bleaching adverts) and styling Barbie dolls and other toys to highlight these issues.
On Wednesday 24 February, fashion commentator and former presenter of the BBC’s Clothes Show, Caryn Franklin MBE, will present her public lecture, entitled ‘Fashion, Diversity and Individuality: Implications for body image and eating disorders’, at Leeds Beckett’s city centre Calverley building, from 6pm to 8.30pm. This talk is supported by the BPS North East of England branch and will see Caryn talk about her 34 years in the fashion industry as well as the work she has done over the last six years in promoting diversity and supporting young creatives in recognising their empowerment early in their careers.
An ‘Occupy your body’ activist workshop run by AnyBody UK, a website giving women a voice to challenge the limited physical representation of females in contemporary society, will take place on Thursday 25 February from 11am to 1pm in the Rose Bowl. This will be followed by a showing of the film The Illusionists at the city campus Students’ Union from 5.30pm to 8pm, co-organised by Student Minds and Leeds Beckett Students’ Union. The Illusionists examines how global advertising firms, mass media and the beauty industry are changing the way people around the world define beauty and see themselves.
The week of events closes with the ‘My Body, My Mind: Eating Disorders in Racialised communities’ seminar in the Rose Bowl on Friday 26 February, from 2pm to 4pm, hosted by Marvina Newton. The seminar will feature speakers presenting their research and experiences on eating disorder and body image issues as they overlap with racism, homophobia and sexism. It will also be a space to exchange thoughts, be entertained, and formulate ideas for change.