Maybe Less Pizza Would Help?

By Allison Jeffe | Monday, November 12, 2001

The table was filled with three large boxes of EBA's pizza, few slices remaining, loaded with extra cheese, bacon, meatball, ham, and pineapple, oil filling in the crevices of the cheese. Towering over the boxes was a two liter bottle of Diet Coke, and scattered around the table were plastic cups. Around the table were big chairs and benches. On the chairs sat 11 women, one from Yugoslavia, two from India, and the rest Asian and African- American. It is 7 PM in the Casque and Gauntlet living room, and this is the weekly meeting of the Women of Color Collective. Where was the 'good food' which 'Myesha 'Julia Child' Jackson had promised to whip up,' mentioned in the meeting's notice?

The meeting commenced with introductions (name, year, etc.) and a personal reflection on what the 'freshman fifteen' means to you. This week's topic was 'Ideal or Real: bodies in flux.' A few girls said that they do not weigh themselves anymore. Others said they had gained weight and wouldn't care if it weren't for men. Others expressed their alarm at having parents and friends not recognize them after gaining weight freshman year. Mostly, the girls complained about being overweight and having people besides themselves care, which affected their self-esteem. Throughout the discussion, the girls devoured pizza and tried to console their minds with fat-free Diet Coke. None of the girls were really thin or skinny (eliminating that potential body image issue), and all scarfed slices while becoming increasingly irate about the images society produces about what they're supposed to look like.

One African-American student said, 'This is my opinion, but African-Americans do not care about their weight and appearance. It is white people who expect everyone to look a certain way, be thin, and worry about appearance.' As she spoke, she continued eating pizza and showed frustration at people who make her care about what she looks like. She claimed that women are fine the way they are and that men's ideals are unrealistic and unhealthy. Each girl similarly spoke 'from the heart' about her feelings on weight. There were no statistics, facts, or pamphlets. No one read from a book or discussed actual events.

Another student said that Barbies make her really angry: her body is too thin, the legs too long, and figure too voluptuous. Barbies do not look like real women, and it angers her that they exist and that they are the model that girls have to look up to as young children. Most of the room agreed with her. Conversation meandered to magazine models. The women did not like these images either; they set unrealistic expectations and were upsetting. No one seemed, however, to have ever looked at, let alone read, fashion magazines, a popular time-passing activity for many outside of that room.

It was hard to tell really what the meeting was about. Why must women of color specifically talk about an issue that affects all women? What does body image have to do with one's skin color? Why call the group 'The Women of Color Collective' if all are welcome?

The mission statement mentions that 'As women of color at Dartmouth, we tend to segregate ourselves while searching for support...As women of color our experiences are often more similar than we think.' They go on further to say that they are 'a unique group dedicated to exploring issues we may face as women and as minorities on campus.'

While never completely answering these questions. The mission statement says that it 'hopes to be a bridge that connects us regardless of residence, affiliation, religion, or sexual identity.' If this is their hope, why sit around segregated from others in a counter-productive way, just griping about weight issues? It would seem that the group's members would be better off not secluding themselves but mingling with the rest of campus if they really wish to be 'the bridge.'

Maybe Less Pizza Would Help?

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