What is the Mirror Message Campaign?
When thinking about issues of student body-image on Lehigh’s campus, we often fail to address the normalization of harmful rhetoric that has contributed to body-image insecurities in the first place. Negative body-talk during interpersonal and online interactions fuels insecurity in young students, stigmatizes normal body development, and reinforces unhealthy body idealization.
The “Mirror Messages Campaign” aims to reduce the normalization of negative body-talk by encouraging interpersonal affirmations and support within Lehigh student relationships, shifting campus culture towards body-positive rhetoric and confidence as bodies change with growth.
In collaboration with SOAR Together Fellows Rachael Burcker and Jack Hetz of Lehigh University’s Gender, Leadership, and Empowerment Center, this campaign aims to increase student access to education, resources, and hands-on opportunities focused on addressing body-image concerns and interpersonal negative body talk.
Data
- 45% of students agreed or strongly agreed that women feel pressure to conform to an ideal body type on campus
- 20% of students agreed or strongly agreed that men feel pressure to conform to an ideal body type on campus
- 35% of students were reportedly unsure if men feel pressure to conform to an ideal body type on campus
- 10% of students agreed or strongly agreed that nonbinary students feel pressure to conform to an ideal body type on campus
- 70% of students were reportedly unsure if nonbinary students feel pressure to conform to an ideal body type on campus
These statistics demonstrate a need for addressing pressures of body-conformity for students of all genders, specifically when it comes to extensive pressures towards female students, along with introducing conversations about body-image and body-conformity among male and nonbinary students.
Additionally, it is necessary to emphasize how harmful body-talk and body idealization can look differently for all students. There is a common misconception that students’ negative body-image directly correlates with a desire to lose weight. However, that is merely a fraction of the bigger picture.
According to a study conducted by University of Washington faculty in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, male undergraduate students reported stronger correlations between contingent self-esteem and desires for muscularity, while female undergraduate students reported stronger correlations between contingent self-esteem and desires for weight concerns, regardless of their current weight (Grossbard et al., 2009). This highlights how negative body-talk doesn’t just take the form of weight comments, and can vary depending on the personal insecurities of a student, along with gender-based body standards.
It is also important to note that the normalization of negative body-talk heavily relates to the common use of self-deprecation as a mistaken demonstration of humbleness. According to a 2014 study in the North American Journal of Psychology, women are more likely to display “fat-talk” as a type of negative body-talk (Nitcher, 2000). “Fat-talk” tends to follow a script in which a woman makes a self-deprecating comment related to her weight, followed by a second woman denying this comment and proceeding to make her own self-deprecating comment in return. On college campuses, interactions like these most often occur between female students and can look something similar to this:
Woman A: “I look so fat in this dress.”
Woman B: “Not at all! I’m the one who needs to lose weight.”
There is a normalization of women feeling the need to bring themselves down in order to lift others up– reassuring peers about their bodies by criticizing their own. This type of rhetoric has shown positive associations with body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and eating disordered attitudes and behaviors (Arroyo & Harwood, 2012; Warren et al., 2012; Becker et al., 2013; Engeln et al., 2013).
Body-image is shaped not only by self-perceptions of appearance, but by gendered expectations, social norms, and everyday conversations on Lehigh’s campus. It is crucial to understand the context, research, and insight into how body-conformity pressures and normalized negative body-talk impact students of all genders– and why addressing these patterns matter.
This data highlights the widespread and gendered nature of body-conformity pressures on campus, emphasizing the need for an informed intervention. The GLE Center has used this data to set the foundation for a student-focused, gender-inclusive campaign that addresses the diverse ways body-image concerns and negative body-talk affect all students. By connecting this education with on-campus and local resources, our campaign aims to empower students with the knowledge, support, and practical tools to foster healthier conversations and communities.