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

