Re-BELLY-on Week

These are all the pictures I could get uploaded for the time being.

To explain:
Myself and other members of one of our feminist clubs on campus, FORGE (Fighting for Our Rights and Gender Equality), as well as cast members of our production of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" decided to put together an art project in celebration of NEDA Week. We know that many women are plagued with body image issues as well as life-threatening eating disorders. In conjunction with NEDA Week, we launched the "Re-BELLY-on" project.

Credit must be given to musician Amanda Palmer for originating the idea of the Rebellyon. We decided to do our own take on the idea of loving your belly. We did info sessions about eating disorders as well as disordered eating (as statistics show that even though some women have eating disorders, 75% of women are dissatisfied with their bodies), showed a film and discussed it, and got the rare joy of running around campus for an afternoon taking our clothes off and not being ashamed. We included poetry and writing from people about their bodies, as well as other forms or art.

The Re-BELLY-on photo shoot was an incredibly liberating experience. It was so rewarding to see women for once not be ashamed of their "chub", thighs, stretchmarks, scars, tattoos or whatever. We were PROUD.

We made a huge display and had it set up in the student union here at WSU for a whole week and got a lot of positive reactions. People's moms sent photos to be included and grandmas were delighted we took the initiative to construct our own idea of beauty-- unfettered by patriarchy, popular media, and sexism. Let me know what you think of our project! We hope to continue it and keep in growing in the months ahead. Thanks!