Beautiful Me

Kellen Kissinger’s ’15 painted jeans

Photo provided by Molly McElroy

The annual Beautiful Me campaign took place on Wilson’s campus from Feb 23 – 26. Beautiful Me is a community awareness and outreach campaign with the goal of spreading the word about eating disorders and negative body images and how it can impact everyone.

During the week, there was a table set up in the upper Lenfest lobby with information for students to peruse, along with bracelets and temporary tattoos. One event that was hosted during Wilson’s Beautiful Me week was a Zumba night, which allowed a way of relieving stress for students across campus. After the conclusion of the event, the students were offered smoothies as refresh ments.

 One of the main themes of this year’s outreach was “Embrace Your Genes.” This theme was enhanced by a week-long activity that included decorating jeans of all shapes and sizes in the Upper Lenfest Commons area. The jeans were painted with body positive quotes and phrases, such as “Leave the scales to the fish,” “Rise like a phoenix” and “Love is louder than the pressure to be perfect.”

The Beautiful Me campaign was sponsored for a week on Wilson’s campus, but according to… (not from the opinion of the journalist) the campaign never really ends. It is up to the community to promote healthy body images every single day through forward thinking and body positive attitudes. Check out Beautiful Me on Facebook for body positive messages and details about future events and campaigns. Raising awareness is the first step. The next step is yours to take.