By Lytle Wurtzel
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Tonight, Camille Cooper of "General Hospital" fame reveals that the beauty of a soap opera star does not always exist before the director calls "lights, camera, action." As Cooper discloses, beauty in the media industry is not a product of a simple directionbut, rather, a labor of lighting, camera filters and touch-ups.
Billed as the "big ticket" event of Health and Wellness Week, Cooper's talk, "The American Beauty Myth," is sponsored by the Health Unity Council. The new student-run group, a combination of 10 health-related organizations on Grounds including the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team and Sexual Assualt Facts and Education, plans to sponsor Health and Wellness week annually in the spring.
"Every second semester we want to dedicate a week to raising health and wellness resources and awareness on Grounds by encompassing a variety of issues," said Alyssa Lederer, a second-year College student and HUC chairwoman.
Cooper's presentation, aimed at both men and women, brings together her experience in soap operas and print ads with a message about body image.
"Cooper gives us a look at an industry obsessed with beauty and perfection that is impossible to obtain," Lederer said. "She shows what the media is saying women and men should look like, but sheds light on the fact that this ideal person really isn't out there."
Armed with an arsenal of before and after photographs, Cooper will demonstrate how re-touching, lighting and camera filters distort the original picture and carefully construct a final product for the audience.
First-year Engineering student Amber Turner, vice president of Eating Out, a student group dedicated to the issue of eating disorders, is concerned how this final product affects the population.
"During our formative years, we're flooded with images of Hollywood's beauty ideal, and we're tricked into trying to obtain a higher standard than even the actresses and actors can obtain," Turner said. "When I met with Camille, she explained how these images negatively impact our self esteem and our body image."
This negative impact often leads to serious eating disorders and disordered eating.
"Sixty-one percent of college students are affected by full-blown eating disorders or disordered eating," Turner explained. "Though most people are more aware of anorexia and bulimia, they don't realize that it is still just as serious a problem if you obsess over calories to the point of disordering your eating habits."
In addition to her before and after slides, Cooper, who co-authored the Virginia Educational Diversity and Gender-equity Bill, will present certain statistics to destroy the myth that Hollywood sets the standard on body image.
According to Cooper, actresses and models weigh 23 percent less than the average woman. Also, Cooper notes that women aren't the only victims of a poor body image: one out of 10 eating disordered people are men.
While the statistics can drive home a valid point, Turner warns that the HUC is most concerned with reaching out to the University community on a basis that is relevant to them.
"When someone hears that 10 percent of women suffer from an eating disorder, it's easy for them to say, 'Well I'm in the other 90 percent' and believe that it doesn't affect them," Turner said. "We want to show that eating disorders can affect people indirectly - if it's not you, it could be someone you know."
Cooper will speak in Ruffner Hall auditorium at 7 p.m.
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