The Ohio University Women’s Center hopes some art, nutrition and burlesque will teach students to love their body.
The national celebration of Love Your Body Day takes place every year in October, and celebrating it has become a yearly tradition for the Women’s Center.
This year, Sarah Jenkins, program coordinator of the Women’s Center, has planned three events for the day.
The day will begin with “The M word: Representation and the maternal in contemporary art” taught by Jennie Klein at 12 p.m. in the Women’s Center.
Klein, associate professor of art history, has been a regular facilitator for Love Your Body Day events in years past. This year, she said she will talk to participants about artists who include the theme of motherhood in their work.
These artists, she said, use their art to explore what happens to women’s body images when they become mothers. She said it often has a “desexualizing” effect, making body positivity a struggle.
“Motherhood issues are issues students will be dealing with,” Klein said. “Loving your body includes loving what your body can do.”
Klein also commented on the struggle to be body positive, particularly for women.
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“You can spend a lot of time obsessing over what you look like,” Klein said. “Often the way a woman looks physically can interfere with everything else she does.”
Wellworks nutrition counselor Selena Baker and some of her nutrition students are organizing the event “Love your body, nourish yourself” to focus on “beauty from the inside out” at 2 p.m. in the Women’s Center.
“We'll touch on many aspects that are so vital to really taking care of oneself and which help us feel energized and beautiful,” Baker said.
She said they will discuss topics ranging from nutrition and sleep, to stress reduction, and how these aspects contribute to body positivity. They will also give out DIY recipes for healthful snacks and body products and do an exercise about “mindfully” eating a piece of chocolate.
Baker said it is important to promote not only a healthy body, but also a healthy body image.
“We respect and take care of things in our life that we feel good about — and our body is one of those things,” Baker said. “It's very important to balance respecting your body just as it is, as well as striving to take good care of yourself.”
Local burlesque performer named Clementine will teach a burlesque workshop titled “Strip away the shame” at 4 p.m. in the Women’s Center. Clementine will discuss her own journey and how burlesque has helped her to love her body, and then teach participants a few burlesque moves.
While these events may seem to be primarily geared toward women, Jenkins stressed that these events are for all to attend.
“Anyone is welcome,” Jenkins said. “I want these to be events that all people feel welcome to come to.”
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