Hair extensionsð: $80. Breast Augmentation: $5,000. Loving the body God gave you: priceless.
To help women learn to love their bodies, the UA Women’s Resources Center is holding a breast party tonight from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Student Union Memorial Center Gallery.
The breast party will teach women how to fight against societal stereotypes of how women should look or feel, said Malia Uhatafe, co-director of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Women’s Resource center.
“”The goal of this event is to have our attendees leave the event with a brand new confidence,”” Uhatafe said. “”We really just want to break away from the pressure that we receive in terms of body image and what the media portrays on body image and how we should look.””
The event provides women with an opportunity to bond with one another and really embrace their differences, said Seema Patel, administrative vice president of ASUA.
“”I’m going to be really excited to feel that sense of community,”” Patel said. “”It is always good to be around other females. There is so much that goes on in your life that it is always good to know that there are other women that have the same perspective as you do.””
The evening will be broken into three sections: There will be a clothing swap, a real beauty pageant and breast molding.
“”We’re going to start out with a clothes swap. We encourage our attendees to bring clothes that no longer fit them and trade them for new threads that do fit them,”” Uhatafe said.
The breast-molding portion of the event aims to show women that there is no perfect body and that everyone should be comfortable with what they have, she added.
Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, a women’s studies professor, said the idea of women’s self image is an extremely important societal issue.
“”I think it is really great for women to do what’s necessary to appreciate the varieties in our bodies and to appreciate who they are and not be constantly measuring themselves against unrealistic ideals,”” Kennedy said.
Women receive so much pressure from outside sources as to how they should look that it is a good idea that women get together and support each other, Kennedy said.
“”Women and families also are constantly giving messages to women that they are too fat or they’re not big-breasted enough,”” Kennedy said. “”There are just judgments all of the time . . . that women’s bodies are not as good as they should be.””
This is the third time that the WRC has hosted the event. Uhatafe said that after each time they have had this event, the WRC can see the women experience a boost in self-confidence.
“”A lot of the (previous) participants have stressed that in the breast mold activity, everyone is topless, so at the beginning, everyone is really uncomfortable with this,”” Uhatafe said. “”And throughout the event, everyone becomes just comfortable because everyone is so different, and everyone is willing to accept whatever . . . they see.””
Patel said that so much of society is based on judging women that it is important to remind them that it is not necessary to try and conform to societal ideals.
“”There is not enough stuff that goes on today that encourages women to accept who they are, in terms of their figures,”” Patel said. “”This is just another attempt at kind of making women feel more comfortable with themselves.””