We Were Asked to Participate in "Dare to Love Yourself", Here is Why We Refused

Katie Regittko, they-them, co-chair 
In past years, Embody Carolina has continuously participated in Southern Smash events. We have tabled at the scale smash, and had members speak at the SmashTALK events afterward. Throughout the years, we have seen and experienced many issues with these events, and our concerns have only increased since the rise of Black Lives Matter protests and action earlier this year. In August, we were asked to be a part of Southern Smash and The Alliance For Eating Disorders Awareness's "Dare to Love Yourself" summit, a virtual day of workshops and panels around eating disorder awareness and recovery. After careful consideration about these two organizations pasts and current response to the visibility of racial inequality, we have decided to no longer move forward supporting these organizations or their events on campus. Tonight, Southern Smash and the Alliance for Eating Disorders are hosting "Dare to Love Yourself UNC" a virtual replacement for Southern Smash and SmashTALK events. Here is why Embody will not be participating: 

Embody Carolina is first and foremost a committee of the Campus Y, the social justice "hub" on campus. Our most important values center around social justice, eating disorder awareness and advocacy in marginalized communities, and body liberation. We recognize that eating disorders are social justice issues which disproportionately impact marginalized communities and make it harder for them to receive a diagnosis and adequate treatment. We are dedicated to fighting for equity in the field of eating disorder advocacy and body liberation and stand with LGBTQ, BIPOC, disabled, latinx, and all marginalized communities. In July, we signed on to Trans Folks Fighting Eating Disorders's Open Letter to eating disorder institutions and organizations calling for change in the way they claim to support marginalized communities without steps towards real change, and we are dedicated to following through on that call. 

In our past collaborations with Southern Smash, the event was marketed largely toward sororities within the Panhellenic Council. Both events are considered a "point" for these sorority sisters, encouraging people to come to fulfill a point for their organization, after which they often leave without engaging in the event. These large crowds of sorority sisters are often off-putting to people in marginalized communities, and unknowingly encourage people outside of the Panhellenic council to not come. Personally, when I see a group of a hundred sorority sisters lined up, I start walking the other way. There are competitions encouraged to the Panhellenic council to design the best scale or raise the most money, and the large promotion of Panhellenic sororities signals where their priorities for spreading awareness and resources lie, albeit without overtly making that statement. However, we know that Panhellenic sororities and traditional greek life as a whole hold deeply racist histories which reinforce the gender binary and class stratification. 

Greek life holds a hefty monetary and social admission price, which breeds organizations which are predominantly white, cisgender, and upper class. When eating disorder resources are only funneled into these organizations, it is no surprise that BIPOC with eating disorders are half as likely to be diagnosed or to receive treatment. So what is the priority access given to sorority sisters actually about? To answer that, I think it's easiest to look at the founders and teams of these organizations. Currently, the Alliance for Eating Disorders has no Black members on their team or board. The founders of both organizations are privileged white women who were able to access treatment with their own funding. SmashTALKs are usually largely centered around the story of their founder, who was able to quit her job and privately pay for treatment, with the overarching theme of "if I can do it, you can too" without acknowledging real barriers that others face. 

Additionally, at Embody, we recognize that the pressure from popular organizations and campaigns to “love yourself” can be very off-putting and even harmful for people in marginalized communities, as various factors remain in place that are not conducive to this way of thinking. And then a sense of shame comes when people aren’t able to “love themselves” like others. For some people, loving themselves publicly is a very dangerous dare to accept. For many communities, publicly “loving themselves” has been used to contort and oppress their identities. 

The Dare to Love Yourself UNC panel is mostly white, cis women. The Panhellenic Council is a sponsor.  Especially in this day and age, that is a problem. Alliance for Eating Disorders and Southern Smash seem oblivious to the way in which eating disorder advocacy and treatment efforts have isolated and harmed members of marginalized communities. Until we see concrete steps taken towards change in the way resources are dispersed and the representation on the team as well as in events and sponsors, we will not be participating in Southern Smash or Alliance for Eating Disorders events. 

Embody Carolina is dedicated to sharing resources with and learning from the experiences of marginalized communities who experience weight stigma, body image distress, and eating disorders. If you are interested in learning more about our work on this front or supporting us, join us on November 10th for our panel on access to treatment in college and kick off Transgender Awareness Week with us on November 13th at our Comedy Fundraiser for Trans Folks Fighting Eating Disorders! 

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