by: Lindsay Bragg
Clarissa Oliphant spends about 40 minutes every day getting ready in the morning. That is 243 hours a year spent attempting to achieve society’s definition of beauty. It is not uncommon to spend much longer on appearance each morning.
The Women’s Services and Resources Center is hosting a 10-day body image challenge encouraging women to challenge society’s definition of beauty.
The event runs Tuesday through Oct. 20, with one challenge each day of the event. Participants will be asked to perform one body image challenge each day and keep a journal for the 10 days. There will be a final challenge on the 10th day after which the women will receive a free T-shirt for participating.
The goal of the event is to challenge women’s views of beauty and get women talking about the problems with society’s definition of beauty.
“It’s about challenging things rather than accepting them and questioning whether the messages we are given are really true,” said LaNae Valentine, director of the Women’s Services and Resource Center.
The event is about defining beauty for yourself.
“I think beauty is showing who you are on the inside out,” said Bianca Rosenhan, a senior majoring in recreation management from Blackfoot, Idaho. “It’s about loving everything about yourself, being your own type of beautiful. Every person has their own definition of beautiful.”
Each day focuses on a different aspect of beauty.
“I’m really looking forward to supermodels versus role models on day nine,” Rosenhan said.
The day will challenge participants to compare a role model in their life to a supermodel in order to help participants discover a different kind of beauty.
“The most beautiful person to me is Audrey Hepburn,” said Clarissa Oliphant, a junior communications major from Madison, Wis. “Not just because of her size but because of her attitude on life. Simplicity is beauty. She was very classy.”
To Valentine, beauty is more about internal characteristics.
“[Beauty is exemplified by] courage, a sense of humor, patience and a willingness to go through really hard trials and grow and learn from them,” Valentine said.
Women can sign up to participate in 3326 WSC or email the Women’s Services and Resource Center at .
