For a number of years, many people have felt incomplete because they do not meet the standards for attractiveness that have been set by society.

To annihilate those feelings of unattractiveness and to boost self-esteem, Sophia, the women’s caucus, brings to the Simpson community Love Your Body Day.

Sophia Co-Vice President Pearl Podgorniak said, “It will be a day to embrace ourselves as we are and embrace all those ‘imperfections’ each and every one of us thinks he/she has.

Society has been conditioned to think that weight, height and clothing are the only things that make one attractive. In this century, body image has become a factor by which most people are judged. In a lot of companies, body image has been included in the selection process. For instance, some airlines require a certain height and weight for their flight attendants.

“Everyday we are bombarded with what the media say we should look like, but none of us really do. It is a day off from wishing you were a few pounds lighter, or heavier, or taller, or shorter and telling yourself that you do not have to have that perfect part and that you should look at yourself as a whole person and enjoy that person,” Podgorniak said.

Studies show that some college students have low self-esteem because they feel that they are not attractive enough. Some students go through different hairstyles or clothing styles in one year because they don’t feel good enough about themselves. This does not only pertain to the female species but the male species as well. Several male students on this campus have gone through great measures trying to lose weight and some have used supplements to look more muscular and more attractive because society has given them an idea of an attractive male.

“We hope that this day will make people more aware of themselves and how they feel about their own bodies,” said Podgorniak. “We want everyone, even if it’s just for a second, to feel good about who they are and what they look like and to realize they don’t need to try to be the ideal image. We want them to stop and say, ‘I am okay the way I am, I don’t need to change for anyone but myself.”

To celebrate Love Your Body Day, Sophia asks Simpson students to join them in painting their images on a mural that will be displayed throughout this week in Brenton Student Center.

“Also in BSC, we will have an information board explaining the purpose of the day, giving statistics and little facts of which we should all be aware. For example, less than 5 percent of women naturally possess the body type portrayed as the ideal,” said Podgorniak.