A young woman remembers the first time she was called fat. It was her kindergarten year and she was on the playground, running around and having fun with her fellow classmates when all of a sudden, some of the boys in her class began to pick on her. One boy called her fat and ugly. She began to cry and ran into the classroom to tell her teacher. She does not remember what happened to the little boy, but she is positive that no time-out or sentence to clean chalkboards after class could have been punishment enough considering the way her life changed from that day on.

Body image is a daily struggle for girls all over the world. This is most commonly understood as one's personal perception of their body, appearance, physical condition, and/or level of attractiveness. Although women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and races experience the hardships that come with body image, college-aged American women seem to be the poster children for many body image issues. A 2009 study on femininity, masculinity, and body image issues among college-aged women found that not a single participant in the study was happy with her body the way it was. In addition, they found that all the participants felt that a "better body" would in some way make them happier or more successful in life.

"To me, being beautiful means radiating confidence in oneself as well as physical attractiveness," says 23-year-old Katrina Veldkamp, a law student at University of California, Los Angeles. Unfortunately, not everyone radiates confidence or has a positive outlook on their body image, and in some cases this can affect one's mental and physical health.

"I would like to think that our society and its views on beauty haven't shaped the way I look at myself but I think I would be lying if I said it didn't," says Karli Tucker, a 28-year-old Santa Monica College Alumna. "There are so many ways our society influences us in regards to beauty and I am not immune to those things."

In the past few years, people and organizations have acknowledged our society's distorted perception of beauty, and have started to reach out to young women of all shapes and sizes in hopes of teaching them to appreciate every inch, curve, and imperfection of their body, and to see themselves for the beautiful young women that they are. At the center of this movement is Delta Delta Delta, also knownas Tri Delta, a national sorority with chapters at universities across the United States that has created a campaign entitled "Fat Talk Free Week," a five-day body activism campaign designed to spread knowledge about body image issues.

As part of Fat Talk Free Week, Tri Delta recognizes 'fat talk' as "statements that explicitly or implicitly reinforce the unattainable thin-ideal standard of female beauty promoted by our culture." Statements such as: 'I feel fat today,' 'I can't eat that, it will make me fat,' and 'she shouldn't wear that because it makes her look fat' are not allowed. Even statements like, 'Wow, you look great--have you lost weight?' are discouraged.

"We developed Fat Talk Free Week as a catalyst to ignite a revolution of body activism among women everywhere," says Jackye Clark, president of Tri Delta. "Ultimately our goal is to educate women on how to change the way we think and talk about our bodies, to increase positive self-image, and prevent eating disorders. As an organization with thousands of women joining each year, we are in a very unique position to actively work toward eliminating the devastating pattern of fat talk and chasing the thin ideal."

Fat Talk Free Week originated out of Tri Delta's award-winning body image education and eating disorder prevention program called "Reflections: Body Image Program," which was designed to help women stay healthy in every aspect of their lives: mind, body, and spirit. Reflections was started at Trinity University by Professor Carolyn Becker and an undergraduate student after they conducted a study about eating disorder prevention programs with the sororities on their campus. Four years later, the sororities began to formally include a body image program into their new member orientation rituals. In 2005, Becker and Tri Delta joined forces to make an even bigger impact.

Reflections is the first eating disorder prevention program designed by and for sororities that is supported by scientific evidence. One of Reflections' main goals is to prevent its young female participants from falling into society's unrealistic standards of beauty. Reflections typically goes on for two days and uses small interactive peer groups to implement the expert-designed program. However, instead of focusing on negative aspects of body image such as eating disorders, Reflections stays positive by emphasizing the importance of an individual's healthy body image through a wide variety of discussions, activities, and exercises.

"We wanted to do something that would be able to not only have an impact on our chapter, but on our whole campus," says Sarah Labowsky, a member of Tri Delta at Villanova University. "The Reflections Body Image Program was the perfect way to address an issue on our campus that is not widely discussed. Through the program, our chapter has become the spokespeople of the importance of having a positive body image." Reflections integrates a high volume of research and testing with a peer-led program in an overall unique structure that works well in the sorority environment. Information collected after the program revealed that eight months after participating in Reflections, 53 percent of women no longer felt their weight had such a strong influence on how they viewed themselves. "I think many students assume that being thin implies that you are in shape and healthy, when it really could be a result of unhealthy habits," Labowski says. "We want women to realize that bodies are supposed to come in all shapes and sizes."

Several public faces have started to openly speak about body image and reach out to the everyday girl. In the past year, former super model and talk show host Tyra Banks and pop singer Jessica Simpson have created campaigns of their own. Banks started the "B.I.O." campaign, which stands for Beauty: Inside and Out, in order to expand the typical definitions of beauty. B.I.O. encourages woman to stop looking at fashion ads, magazines, television shows and commercials, and other forms of media as guides to beauty.

"I think that if I didn't see and hear people trying to be super skinny, I'd be less prone to think I need to be that way," Veldkamp says. "If I had lived in the fifties when an hourglass shape was ideal, I'd be a happy camper."

Instead of letting women fall victim to the messages of beauty in American media, B.I.O. pushes girls to come forward and speak out about what beauty means to them by making videos and posting them online for the world to see. "I think that beauty is accepting your flaws and loving yourself," says Nicole, 11, in her fifteen-second video. The campaign is determined to not only redefine beauty but to redefine what it means to be 'plus-sized.' Banks and B.I.O. stopped using the condescending term and replaced it with the term 'fiercely real' in celebration of every different body type out there. "'Plus-sized' models sounds so old fashioned," Banks says on her website. "So I am changing the term 'plus-sized' and making it fiercely real!"

In addition to the B.I.O. campaign, Banks included a segment on her talk show last month titled "America's Next Fiercely Real Model" where she mocked her hit show, America's Next Top Model, but replaced twig-skinny models with "fiercely real-sized" girls ages 13 to 19. In order to be considered for the competition, young women within the specified age range were required to submit four pictures of themselves wearing leggings and a tank top. After a team of judges looked through all submissions, six finalists were chosen to make an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show and battle it out for the title of 'America's Next Fiercely Real Model.' The six finalists were put through five different challenges and, in the end, 17-year-old New Jersey native Sheridan Watson took home the crown. The size-fourteen teenager went home with a one-year modeling contract with Wilhelmina Models, a spread in Seventeen Magazine, a photo shoot for a leading clothing line, and day with Tyra Banks. The episode was a success. Girls across the world were finally able to see that they too could be models and, more importantly, that if you are comfortable in your skin, you can be as beautiful as you feel.

Some people feel that, although it is great to show real-sized woman as models, not every real girl is represented by Banks' campaign. "Society teaches you that thin is in," says 25-year-old Sara Fortson, a former San Francisco State University student who has been taunted by peers throughout her life for being naturally very thin. "But then it turns around and tells girls of all sizes to love who they are--except if you're thin. Tyra's fiercely real stuff and things like that tend to exclude you if you are thin."

Simpson has set out to look beyond American society and culture in order to explore many different definitions of beauty around the world. Her new VH1 show, Jessica Simpson: The Price of Beauty, reveals the varied ways people see beauty across international and cultural boarders. During the show, cameras follow Simpson, her hairstylist Ken Paves, and her A&R assistant CaCee Cobb as they travel to various countries around the world asking women what beauty means to them. "People put so much pressure on women to be beautiful," says Simpson on her show. "There is always a new diet, a new product; but is that what really defines beauty?" The first episodes have included trips to Thailand, Paris, India, and Uganda. In each country Simpson and her crew meet with a "beauty ambassador" to show them around their country and teach them about their views and practices of beauty.

In Thailand, model Sonia Couling offered the cast bugs, a tasty snack that they believe speeds up the metabolism. Couling explained to them how skin bleaching is popular because lighter skin is a sign of wealth in their country. Runway model Rosemary Bartilla showed that Paris has more than just skinny fashion models. "The real philosophy, as far as everyday girls, is 'la joie de vivre,'" says Bartilla. "The joy of living, the joy of life." Bartilla then introduces Simpson to Johanna Dray, France's first plus-sized model. "I never dreamed I would have enough confidence to walk the runway," says Dray. And when Simpson heads to Africa she is shown that being thin really is not the only way to shine as she is introduced to an African woman who purposely packed on the pounds before getting married to look as healthy and stunning as she could for her big day. Simpson and her crew prove that there is more than one definition of beauty. The episodes all seem to end in a way meant to make people feel better about themselves--empowered, educated, and beautiful in their own way. Dray says, "Whatever shape you have you can be beautiful and feel good about yourself." [X]