Opinion

JENNIFER CALFAS

EDITOR IN CHIEF

AARICA MARSH

and DEREK WOLFE

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

LEV FACHER

MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at

the University of Michigan since 1890.

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board.

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Payton Luokkala Aarica
Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Allison Raeck,

Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman,

Linh Vu, Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

O

f all the relationships in my life, the
one I have with my body is the most
turbulent. My body image, over the

years,
has
continually

fluctuated.
Honestly,

strike that. It alters daily.
Depending
on
the
day,

my perceptions can range
from vaguely accepting, to
indifferent, to criticisms I’d
never dare direct at another
person. I’d like to say I’m
entirely comfortable in my
own skin. I’d like to say that
when my gaze meets the
one of the woman staring
back at me from the surface of a brightly lit
mirror, I don’t grimace. I’d like to take a photo
with friends without a self-conscious and
disparaging thought creeping into my head.

I struggle whenever I try to decipher the

roles bodies play in our lives and in society
as a whole. I’d prefer to view bodies as
merely vehicles to breathe, travel, play, work,
create, love and enjoy life. However, I know
perceptions surrounding the physical body in
our society are far more complex than that.
Whether we’re being introduced to someone
or merely sitting in class, our bodies are one of
the first impressions we make. From that initial
moment, we begin the process of appraising,
or “sizing each other up.” In our society, we
classify and compartmentalize. We toss around
adjectives like “tall,” “stout,” “lean,” “twiggy,”
“chubby,” “athletic” or “muscular.” We fix these
designations on people until the descriptions
seep under our skin. We formulate idealized
classifications of bodies that deserve to be
labeled as healthy or as attractive. We even
create incorrect images of what individuals
struggling
with
their

bodies look like.

Yet
eating
disorders

and body image concerns
afflict individuals across
a wide spectrum that’s
overlooked far too often.
Despite
the
common

misconception that eating
disorders
only
affect

individuals who are young,
white,
heterosexuals,

they’re not exclusive to any particular group.
Classified by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
as “persistent disturbance(s) of eating or
eating-related behavior that results in the
altered consumption or absorption of food
that significantly impairs physical health or
psychosocial functioning,” eating disorders
are experienced by individuals of any age,
sexuality, gender, race or socioeconomic status.

In order to address the discrepancies and

misconceptions about disordered eating across
the nation, the National Eating Disorder
Association recently kicked off National Eating
Disorder Awareness Week by surrounding the
campaign around the phrase “I Had No Idea.”
Personal experiences and interactions have
convinced me the stereotypical images and
perceptions of eating disorders are not true,
but until I did the research, I was unaware of
numerous aspects regarding the subject.

Even though the DSM offers detailed

definitions and symptom descriptions of
eating disorders, the information and research
surrounding the discussion is constantly
evolving. Binge-eating disorder — a type of
eating disorder characterized by “frequent
episodes of consuming large amounts of food,
but without behaviors to prevent weight
gain” — previously fell under a category of
non-specified disorders. The emergence of
this disorder into the manual shows eating
disorders aren’t limited to anorexia and bulimia.
Likewise, the existence of other-specified and
unspecified categories in the DSM helps to
reinforce the fact that eating disorders vary as

much as the individuals who suffer from them.
A variety of diverse sociocultural and genetic
factors contribute to the development of eating
disorders and the manifestation of symptoms
in individuals.

For example, eating disorders — although

they are commonly categorized as an issue
pertaining mostly to women — greatly impact
men. In the past 30 years, the percentage of
men who are dissatisfied with their bodies has
risen from 15 percent to 43 percent. For binge-
eating disorder, in particular, men compose
40 percent of the individuals diagnosed.
Men who exhibit signs of binging episodes or
symptoms of bulimia may partake in excessive
amounts of exercising. While women may
focus on slimming down, men with disordered
eating patterns focus on maintaining a more
stereotypically masculine form by obtaining
muscle. The stigma of eating disorders being
exclusively associated with women deters men
from seeking treatment.

In addition, gender roles and stereotypes

play a role in the manifestation of eating
disorder symptoms in members of the LGBTQ
community. According to NEDA, stressors,
“such as coming out and harassment in school
or in the workplace, can impact levels of anxiety,
depression, low self-esteem, and unhealthy
coping mechanisms such as substance abuse
— all of which are common co-occurring
conditions and can be contributing factors to
the development of an eating disorder.”

For members of the transgender community,

attempting to obtain a masculine or feminine
ideal could provoke anxiety and dissatisfaction
with one’s body. Research regarding aspects
such as the idealized forms in LGBTQ
community, the effects of discrimination, and
the factors contributing to eating disorders is

still ongoing.

Taking
excessive

exercise and gender roles
into account, many people
may
consider
athletes

exempt
from
eating

disorders
as
result
of

their strenuous exercise
schedules
mandated
by

their
respective
sport.

However, appearances can
be deceiving. The stress of

competition, of maintaining the form of one’s
body and of wanting to improve can contribute
to the development of an eating disorder.
Likewise, in aesthetic sports like gymnastics,
wrestling and ice-skating, the form-fitting
uniforms participants are expected to wear can
increase one’s concern about the way their body
looks to others.

In an environment like the University —

where competition, independence and high
standards thrive — students may refrain from
seeking help or feel like the condition is a phase
they can struggle through and improve on their
own. However, numerous resources — at CAPS
and UHS — exist to assist students with each
variable of eating disorders and body image
concerns.

Just as a culmination of diverse factors

can contribute to the development of eating
disorders, many diverse approaches need be
taken to increase awareness about the wide
variation of body concerns among students.
There is no immediate solution for the
widespread prevalence of eating disorders, but
there are numerous steps that can be taken
to raise awareness. The first is to increase
our knowledge of these conditions. Raising
awareness, learning more about diverse
populations
affected
and
understanding

symptoms can help in removing inhibiting
stigmas and allowing people to begin to view
their bodies outside of restricting, incorrect
idealizations.


—Melissa Scholke can be reached

at melikaye@umich.edu.

Eating disorder misconceptions

MELISSA
SCHOLKE

Thank you, Victoria’s

Secret Angels

TO THE DAILY:

I’m not a size two. My stomach

isn’t as flat as a washboard when I
sit down. I enjoy an occasional slice
of pizza. I’m already well aware
that I’m not destined to model, or
marry a hot rock star, or be the face
of some cosmetic line. But full dis-
closure: I’m not one who doesn’t
know the difference between Top-
shop and Top Cat, and I don’t cause
passersby to shriek in horror as I
walk past their gaze.

As I stared at my laptop with an

empty Cheez-It bag in front of me,
an article from Harper’s Bazaar
was conveniently, or perhaps incon-
veniently, brought to my atten-
tion by a friend. It read, “If you’re
bummed about waiting a full year

for the next Victoria’s Secret Fash-
ion Show, today’s news is sure to lift
your spirits.”

Wow,
Harper’s
Bazaar,
you

really speak to me, don’t you? I’m
a 19-year-old, stressed-out col-
lege freshman who gets bummed
out by bad grades, disappointment
and not knowing what I want to
do with my life. But I will never
be bummed about having to wait a
full year (gasp!) to see the entranc-
ing, immortal, glamazon Victoria’s
Secret models grace the catwalk
in nipple covers and bathing suits
made of floss. No thanks, I’ll pass.

I would hereby like to thank the

Victoria’s Secret Angels for remind-
ing me that looks are what peo-
ple covet the most, and that your
tanned and toned bodies (kudos to
that California girl, Katy Perry) are
what set the societal standard for

beauty and sex symbolism. Thank
you for reminding me that I, and
99 percent of other girls like me,
will never touch those standards.
While you bronze your chests with
self-tanner and wear push-up bras,
I wrap my chest in thick scarves
to inform the world that I’m more
than just a body — the exact antith-
esis to the messaging which these
fashion shows promote.

Maybe I’m just cynical, or

maybe I’m just jealous. But what I
do know is that I refuse to aspire
to be like women who, with a little
luck and a lot of starvation, suc-
ceed in superficiality. See, angels
aren’t real, and I choose to watch
real women do real things. Sorry if
that’s a “bummer.”

Sophie White
LSA Freshman

Students may feel
like the condition
is a phase they can

struggle through and
improve on their own.




— Detroit mayor Mike Duggan on Tuesday, in reference to the city currently

bringing in higher revenues than estimated by the 2015 budget.
“

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

So we’re going to stay

conservative in our revenue

estimates, and make adjustments
only when we’re absolutely certain

the money is there.”

Why I can’t support

“Fifty Shades of Grey”

TO THE DAILY:

I’m all for female writers. I’m all

for exploring sexuality. I’m all for
safe, consensual sex. I’m not all for
“Fifty Shades of Grey.”

When I first started hearing

about “Fifty Shades of Grey,” I
didn’t pay much attention. Several
of my close girlfriends had picked
up the book as their first foray into
erotica and would occasionally
remark to one another about their
enjoyment of the piece. They found
the scenes sexy, the visuals steamy
and even if the writing was subpar,
at least they were finally getting a
female-centric perspective of sex
(something often lacking in male-
engineered porn and other erotic
expressions).

I’m supportive of people tak-

ing control of their sexuality. I’m

supportive of people reading and
watching various types of material
to determine their intimate prefer-
ences. I’m in no way shaming any
sexual preference, fetish or the
BDSM culture depicted in “Fifty
Shades of Grey;” if that works for
sexual partners, by all means, they
have my blessing.

My problem with “Fifty Shades

of Grey” is that it presents an abu-
sive relationship in a glamorized
way. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a
disappointment in that it normal-
izes abuse and has joined a cultural
trend of romanticizing behavior on
the big screen that is dangerous in
reality. Outside of their sexual rela-
tionship, Christian Grey attempts
to control Anastasia Steele. He
stalks Ana, wires her phone with-
out her knowledge, limits who
she can talk to and when, controls
what she eats, is prone to threat-
ening outbursts and frequently
isolates Ana from other company.

The problem with Grey and Steele’s
relationship is that the dominating
behavior continues outside of the
bedroom; it’s manipulation dressed
up in a sexy tuxedo. Christian Grey
isn’t a sexual fantasy; he’s a preda-
tor you could find on any street.

Instead of spending money on

the dissemination of this unhealthy
relationship archetype, I urge you
to find ways to give back to those
most affected by the popularity
of these movies: abused women. I
donated the ticket price to “Safe
Haven Shelter for Battered Women”
online. Volunteering and speaking
out against unhealthy relationship
behaviors are other important ways
to help change our unhealthy sex-
ual culture. We have the consumer
purchasing power to change what
we see in our media. Now is the
time to use it.

Bethanie Lehman
LSA Freshman

E-mail RachEl at Rdawson@umich.Edu
RACHEL DAWSON

Send letterS to: tothedaily@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Change the schedule and

Christian privilege

TO THE DAILY:

The Michigan Daily recently

published an editorial in which it
argued that, for the reason of reli-
gious accommodation, the Uni-
versity should avoid scheduling
future fall terms to end as close to
Christmas as the Fall 2015 term,
which ends on Dec. 23. In so doing,
the Daily uncritically and unjustly
upholds the hegemony Christian-
ity exercises over the University’s
schedule.

Our entire calendar is already

designed to cater to Christian holi-
days. We will never have classes or
exams on Christmas or Easter, and
we have an entire break that is de
facto designed to facilitate the cel-
ebration of the former. This level
of accommodation is not avail-
able to other religious groups. For
example,
Hanukkah
overlapped

with final exams last term, and yet
there were no widespread peti-
tions or editorials demanding that
we reschedule the Fall 2014 term
to avoid this conflict. Given the
diversity of holidays celebrated by

members of the University commu-
nity, there are undoubtedly many
more holidays that regularly con-
flict with our academic calendar.
The reason is simple: the Univer-
sity’s calendar, like most calendars
in America, is planned around the
Christian calendar, and other reli-
gious groups are given little, if any,
consideration. Requesting religious
accommodation
for
Christmas

beyond that which is already grant-
ed is a blatant display of Christian
privilege, and completely over-
looks the unequal consideration the
University already gives towards
Christianity in scheduling.

The Daily asserts that Pro-

vost Martha Pollack’s request to
reschedule the end of Winter 2016
classes by two days to accom-
modate
Passover
constitutes
a

“glaring inconsistenc[y]” in sched-
uling policy. However, this point
is clearly unfounded: the proposed
one-day gap between the begin-
ning of Passover and the end of
classes in that policy is exactly
equal to the one-day gap between
the end of exams and Christmas
already in place. Additionally, the
proposed changes still had exami-

nations overlapping with some of
Passover, whereas Christmas does
not, and will never, overlap with
finals. Finally, the Daily ignored
that Pollack’s requests also sought
to accommodate a Christian holi-
day: Greek Orthodox Easter. The
Daily’s request to accommodate
Christmas with an even larger gap
than that which was requested for
Passover therefore constitutes a
“glaring inconsistency,” not Pol-
lack’s actions.

I am highly sensitive to the

increased cost of travel around
Christmas, and for this reason I
do not disagree with the proposed
changes. But to assert that the cel-
ebration of Christmas deserves
increased religious accommoda-
tion when it already receives more
accommodation than any other hol-
iday is both insensitive to the ways
our University and nation privilege
Christianity, and unfair to the non-
Christians whose religious calen-
dars receive nowhere near the same
level of consideration automatically
granted to Christians, if any at all.

Cullen O’Keefe
LSA Junior