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Volume 57, Issue 6 | Wednesday, October 3, 2012
THE BLUE BANNERThe student voice of UNC Asheville
MEDIA PORTRAYS UNREALISTICBODY IDEALSPAGE 9
MUSLIM WOMENDISCUSSRIGHTSPAGE 2
WOMEN’SSOCCERDEFEATSVMIPAGE 6
BEATS ANTIQUEPLAYSTHE PEELPAGE 4
WWW.THEBLUEBANNER.NET
WIN TICKETS TO SEEBEATS ANTIQUE
SEE BACK COVER FOR DETAILSPhoto by Auburn Petty - Editor-in-Chief
2 10.3.12
Muslims discusswomen’srights
Muslim women discussed the Islamic faith and shared their personal experiences con-nected to their religious beliefs in the Women in Islam panel, hosted by the Muslim Student Association at UNC Asheville last Thursday.
“I think that cultural expo-sure is drastically underrated and that events like this are im-portant to keep as much of an open mind as possible,” said Erin Royal, a senior psychol-ogy student who attended the event. “Raising awareness like this is a really good way to spread the word about what is actually true and what isn’t.”
The three panelists, Robina Niyaz, Tayyibah Taylor and Suzanne Hamid, represented a range of ages and backgrounds, and talked about the media por-trayal and perception of Islam.
“I grew up in Toronto at a time when there were no posi-tive images of people of color in the media,” Taylor said. “Usu-ally the portrayals of Muslim women in the media are that of victim: victim of man, victim of religion, victim of war.”
Taylor founded and serves as editor-in-chief of Azizah Maga-zine, the first Muslim American women’s magazine.
Publications such as Azizah Magazine attempt to reduce issues such as stereotyping and racism by providing posi-tive portrayals of Muslims and Muslim women.
Azizah Magazine is a valida-tion of identity, and it is usually the first time Muslim women see themselves represented in a positive way, Taylor said.
“I chose to (create the maga-zine) because there was no place where women could re-ally express their thoughts and set their agenda and really
Camille Wick [email protected] - Staff Writer
NEWS
Photo by Ricky Emmons - Asst. Photography EditorPaul Rozin, expert in psychology of food, spoke at UNCA on Sept. 25 in the Humanities Lecture Hall in a discussion titled “The Psychology of Food: Pleasure and Health, Natural Preference, and the Psychology of the Meal.”
Psychologist talks food and American culture
A food psychology expert spoke to students and communi-ty members about the common misconceptions in our culture regarding healthy living. Paul Rozin, a psychology professor at University of Pennsylvania and an expert in the psychology of food, addressed these con-cerns in his speech on campus on Sept. 25.
Rozin, with the help of his son, spent the past years re-searching the underlying issues behind our nation’s problems with obesity.
“Dr. Rozin is well known for doing research that may not be the most popular or the most mainstream,” said Jacob Wis-noski, a senior psychology stu-dent and the president of Club Psych, who helped sponsor this event. “So, I was hoping that
people would get a chance to see how even research topics that aren’t generally considered to be important can have huge implications for society.”
Rozin’s research looks into how our society could be so ob-sessed with being skinny, yet be so incredibly overweight at the same time.
“I think we get conflicting messages in this culture,” said Keith Ray, the chair and associ-ate professor of health and well-ness at UNC Asheville. “On the one hand, we get the message that if you’re thin, then you’ll be attractive and respected. Then at the same time, we’re bombarded with opportunities to take in more calories than our bodies need.”
Rozin conducted surveys that found 57 percent of American women said they are concerned about their weight, while 13.5 percent of females saying they
are embarrassed to buy a choc-olate bar. Rozin also noted the obesity rate in the U.S. is 32 percent, while the obesity rate in European nations is general-ly much lower, noting France’s obesity rate of 16 percent.
“One of the approaches I’ve taken to this problem is to think of the problem as a cultural problem, rather than as an indi-vidual control problem,” Rozin said.
Rozin explained the French are able to enjoy eating “fatty” foods while staying healthy at the same time because portion control is more engraved into their society.
“The single thing is they eat less, and they eat less because they’re served less,” Rozin said. “We tried to measure what the French eat. We actually went into the restaurants and weighed it. When you order the same things in France, you get
less food. How much you eat is how much is in front of you.”
Ray said it is important to be conscious of nutrient density in portions.
“Certainly if we consume smaller portions of the same foods we’re going to get less calories, and as a result of get-ting less calories we’re going to be less overweight and obese,” Ray said. “That doesn’t neces-sarily address the issue of a country that’s not only over-fed, but undernourished. There is the issue of the nutrient den-sity in food.”
Rozin said he was perplexed with Americans’ fear of foods with fat, as only a small percent-age of fats in food are stored by the body.
“Pepperoni pizza, one of the classic ‘bad’ foods, is not a bad food. It’s OK,” Rozin said. “The
Sheldon Schenck [email protected] - Staff Writer
see FOOD on page 3see PANEL on page 3
10.3.12 NEWS10.3.12 3
Photo by Marine Raynard - Contributing PhotographerAbove: The three panelists, Suzanne Hamid, Tayyibah Taylor and Robina Niyaz spoke to audi-ence members about cultural stigmas that surround being a woman in islamic society. Below: Taylor speaking with audience members following the panel discussion.
countries that eat more fat live longer. Your body makes fat all the time. People don’t know much about fat. They think fat is bad. It’s good.”
Physical activity also plays a significant role in the health of individuals, according to Ray. He said physical activity needs to become a larger part of our culture, just as eating less does.
“In my view, we have to make it as normal in this culture to be physically active as we move through our days. That has to be normal,” Ray said. “For many Americans, it’s normal to wake up in the morning and
brush our teeth. We need to shape a culture such that one of the things that’s normal to do during a physical day is to go for a walk, or do something that’s physically active.”
Rozin also addressed an idea that he says serves as a com-mon misconception in our soci-ety. He said the idea of natural foods being the best for you is wrong.
“People think natural is great,” Rozin said. “Nature isn’t bad, nature isn’t good, na-ture just is. Natural isn’t regu-lated, so people can just say that anything is natural.”
Rozin said many natural foods are high in sugar and fat, and it is still healthy to eat them. He said he could not comprehend why Americans
seek out the most unnatural products in order to cut down on fat and calories.
“There’s no such thing as skim milk in the world. That’s as unnatural as you can get,” Rozin said. “People believe that this natural food pervades everything. When you like something, you only think ev-erything good about it.”
The natural food trend proves to be especially popular in this area, according to Manny Riv-ers, an Asheville resident who attended Rozin’s lecture.
“I do tend to buy organic and natural foods,” Rivers said. “I do think that plays a role in my nutrition.”
Rozin addressed the local food movement, saying its growth is highly beneficial, and
he has hopes for it to soon in-fluence the large food industry.
“Asheville is a wonderful example. I was hunting for fast food, and you have little of that. That’s part of the lo-cal food movement. It’s fix-ing the world, and it’s going to take a lot of work,” Rozin said. “We’re not going to do this without the food industry. They don’t want people to be fat. They just want to make money. They have no interest in fatness. It is possible to get food food on a large scale.”
Although Rozin praised Asheville’s local food move-ment, Wisnoski said he knows there is still work to be done.
“I believe that it is very im-portant to re-mold culture and habits towards a healthier so-
ciety,” Wisnoski said. “How-ever, I also understand that habits are hard to break, and to re-mold on a cultural scale is even harder, so changes will take time. We have to educate people that it will be a gradual process and will rely on every-one chipping in if it’s (going) to be effective.”
Ray agreed the habits we have formed will take some of time and effort to end.
“It’s hard to change life long habits,” Ray said. “It takes time. A great example we have of shaping norms in this culture is the history of tobacco use and smoking. Part of that shift has come from education, part has come from policy change and part has come from reshap-ing norms.”
have a vehicle for their voices,” Taylor said. “Every article in Azizah Magazine is written by a Muslim.”
Katie Pindell, a sophomore management and account-ing student, attended the event Thursday evening.
“Being able to listen to wom-en speak so candidly about their religion and compare their ex-periences with perceptions was very interesting,” Pindell said.
Hamid, the youngest panelist, graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2010, and she said she has always received positive feed-back from her peers regarding her religion.
“I identified with the young-est woman because she went to college in North Carolina,” Royal said. “I liked her because she seemed like she wasn’t afraid to express her opinion, and it was really important to her that it came across in a way that younger people could un-derstand it.”
Hamid said she has confront-ed the faith-related hardship of ignorance concerning the Mus-lim community. She said these views typically stem from cul-tural rather than religious dif-ferences.
“I found the difference be-tween culture and religion the most interesting,” Royal said. “I had never really thought about it that way before and was
ashamed to even have found myself putting the two together in my head before this panel.”
Niyaz said culture plays an important role in regard to re-ligion and connected her per-sonal experiences with Turning Point, an organization fighting domestic violence among New York City Muslims.
Niyaz said it is important to raise awareness that domes-tic violence is not acceptable within Islam. The meshing of culture and religion plays a role in this awareness, she said.
Some attendees, like Pindell, found the panelists’ distinction between religion and culture as gray rather than black and white.--
“The Women in Islam panel struck me most in how much the speakers differentiated be-tween religion and culture,” Pindell said. “They all felt as though culture had altered re-ligion and how people interpret it. I agree to an extent, but I do not think the two are mutually exclusive.”
Some people who attended and participated in the discus-sion were more familiar with Islam and its customs than oth-ers.
“I think the more culture we can come into contact with, the more accommodating we can be for various cultural elements, which, in the end, is more im-portant because it could drasti-cally decrease important issues such as stereotyping and rac-ism,” Royal said.
PANELcontinued from page 2
FOODcontinued from page 2
ARTS AND FEATURES4 10.3.12
Ashe
vill
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Park
Eco-tourism gains new attraction in WNC
Asheville, known for its outdoorsy aesthetic, welcomed a unique new adventure center last weekend.
The Asheville Treetops Adventure Park, billed as “a jungle gym in the trees” by a recent press release, opened Saturday. The park, located next to the Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures Park near the Crowne Plaza Hotel, boasts three levels of difficulty on their facility, ranging from 12 to 45 feet up in the trees.
Treetops is the first of its kind in North Carolina. It is part of a growing aerial trails trend in the outdoors lifestyle, with similar parks in Europe and eco-tourism capitals like Costa Rica and the Caribbean.
Bryan Kerby, the manager of the park, said the park’s design is specifically attuned to Asheville. Kerby, 25, cited specific parts of the design of the park, such as Frisbee discs used to walk across a gap in the trees, a kayak used to swing from
See TREETOPS on page 5
Noor [email protected] - Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Asheville Treetops Adventure Park
TREETOPScontinued from page 4
THE BLUE BANNER5 10.3.12
tree to tree and a suspended climbing wall on the hard-est level as Asheville-oriented.
“The design was difficult,” said Kerby, from Elkhart, Ind., “but Jeff (Greiner, the owner) wanted it to appeal to an Asheville audience.”
More experienced climbers included design elements which were ultimately taken out because they were “impossible,” said Kerby, who has also worked as a zipline guide and a high and low ropes instructor at a summer camp.
Kerby said the Treetops park compliments, but is very different from, the Zipline center located about 2,000 feet away.
“This park is more independent than a zipline tour,” Kerby said. “It’s higher adventure, and while people will enjoy the zipline, the more courageous will also enjoy the Treetops course.”
The course features three levels of difficulty and four trails: the green trail, which is for beginners, and lo-cated about 12 to 15 feet off the ground; the yellow in-termediate trail, which has two trails and includes most of the Asheville-based elements, including a Parkway Tunnel made out of rope; and the red advanced trail, which is 45 feet off the ground and includes a lot of climbing and more strenuous activity.
While Treetops is the only canopy adventure center in the region, it is just one of many adventure centers that also feature ziplines in North Carolina, such as the Navitat center in Barnardsville and The Beanstalk Jour-ney center in Morganton.
Catherine Read, a UNC Asheville student , worked at The Beanstalk Journey in her hometown.
The Beanstalk Journey is more locally-oriented than Navitat, which has another center in California. The Beanstalk hired Read for her experience with her high school’s outdoors group.
“We had experience with climbing, dealing with ropes, the necessary safety associated with dangerous cliffs,” said the 19-year-old mathematics student. “We were still, however, required to complete a training pro-gram for the course.”
Read said her experience at Beanstalk, which also features climbing towers and canopy tours similar to that of Treetops, was very social, and could be very personal.
Read also visited and helped build new ziplines at the Maggie Valley Ghost Town in the Sky, which featured ziplines from Beanstalk, but, according to Read, was a very different experience.
“All ziplines have a danger factor,” Read said. “The difference between the companies is how they handle that danger and where they place the responsibility of safety.”
Safety, according to Treetops manager Kerby, was
an important factor in the construction of the Treetops park. It’s impossible for guests to double-unclip, or loosen/unclip their carabiner, which holds them on the safety lines. Guests remain attached to safety belays, or safety systems featuring harnesses and rope attach-ments, until they are back on the ground. Additionally, guests are required to train with a park ranger before entering the trails.
Taylor Vaughan, a senior health and wellness promotion student and trip supervisor with UNCA Outdoor Programs, said she is familiar with the local tree-climbing and zipline community.
Vaughan, originally from Kennebunk, Mass., said parks like Treetops appeal to the less experienced ad-venturer because of the safeties in place.
There is a gray area between tourists and lesser-ex-perienced outdoorsy-types and the hardcore climbing community, according to Vaughan.
“The community can be intimidating,” said 21-year-old Vaughan. “They can also be kind of snobby.”
Vaughan said the influx of outdoor-adventure centers is both good and bad, because it appeals to a sense of adventure and a lot of people’s hobbies, but it is also a way for businesses to make money.
“It’s nice to see a semi-local group bring this sort of thing to town,” said Vaughan of the Treetops center, which is owned by the Wildwater company that oper-ates within the Blue Ridge region. “I’d love to check it out.”
Imagine a live show where the band is so hyped up and decked out during the performance that even the sound guy is wearing a crazy robot costume. They have no genre and no limits. Most of their songs are as visual as they are sound-re-lated. Their shows come with a complete set of costumes and props reminiscent of an old theater’s costume shop. They are known for percussion and rhythm. They are Beats Antique.
Their show comes from different paths converging. Based in Oakland, Calif., their sound is a combination of electroni-ca with the guitar, bass and drums, along-side an assortment of instruments such as the glockenspiel, accordion, kalimba and string quartet. Sub-genres blend and merge between hip-hop, downtempo and glitch to create a sound somewhat tribal, experimental and seductive.
One element Beats Antique holds close to their makeup is the central vi-sual feature of their performances: world-renowned bellydancer Zoe Jakes. Her
style is all her own, combining extrava-gant costumes ranging from a marionette doll to a stag in a giant inflatable white dress to a master seductress in a full giraffe-print bodysuit. Her entire perfor-mance is something of a sideshow, often involving other dancers or members of the band in her theatrics. Her presence on stage, often accompanied by an instru-ment, is essential to the show and never fails to be a spectacle on its own.
Their sounds are fluid and natural, having a distinct Indian vibe, which in-troduces the unfamiliar open E tuning to the listener’s ears. Without their dis-tinctive style of music and performance, they would just be a band with a costume closet and some tonal vibrations. Instead, they released an album called Tribal Derivation and changed their focus from being the backup music to Jakes’ experi-mental dance moves to create sounds that are the driving force behind their entire performance – a truly non-exclusive, world-fusion, mixed-genre, theatrical, beat-oriented masterpiece.
Maisey [email protected] - A&F Editor
Photo by Auburn Petty - Editor-In-ChiefBeats Antique will play at The Orange Peel this Saturday night.
Review
Returns to the Orange Peel this Saturday
6 10.3.12
The UNC Asheville women’s soccer team earned their first Big South Conference win of the season af-ter defeating Virginia Military Institute at Greenwood Field last Thursday.
“It’s always great to get a win under our belt,” Head Coach Michelle Demko said. “We had three freshmen score today, which is fantastic. It was overall a good step forward for the program.”
The Bulldogs played a physical game en route to a 4-2 victory against their conference foe.
Four different Bulldogs scored in the contest. Aman-da Knapp set the tone with her third goal of the season in minute 2 of the game. VMI did not hang their heads too long as they put up a goal of their own less than three minutes later to tie the game 1-1, and stayed so
until halftime.Freshman Kennedy Garrett said at halftime the play-
ers talked about how they needed this win. She said they came out in the second half wanting it more.
The score remained tied well into the second half un-til Shenny Lenhart received a great pass from Amanda Dailor on the sideline and knocked the ball through the back of the net in minute 62 to break the tie.
UNCA held on to the lead until minute 81 when VMI tied the game again 2-2 off the foot of Courtney Ma-son.
As the ball dropped at midfield after the goal, play resumed and Garrett scored a goal 23 seconds later from 20 yards out to regain the lead. The Bulldogs nev-er looked back by adding yet another goal in the final minutes.
UNCA outshot the Keydets 18-9 for the game.Through their frustration, VMI’s Liz Affronti re-
ceived a yellow card warning from the official after she tripped UNCA’s Kristen Phelps, then kicked the ball into her face as she lay on the ground.
“We were going at it a little bit, and I fell to the ground,” Phelps said of the play. “She just kinda kicked me in the head. It was an interesting thing to open my eyes to.”
The Bulldogs did not have much time to savor the win, as Big South Conference champions Radford Uni-versity came to town Saturday afternoon.
After a 30 minute rain delay, play began under muggy conditions and a rain soaked field.
The Highlanders may have won the game 3-2, but the Bulldogs went home with their head held high.
“I thought it was great game,” Demko said. “That was our best 90 minutes of soccer. If you would have told me we would have taken 18 shots on Radford af-
Stephen Case [email protected] - Staff Writer
Photo by Ricky Emmons - Asst. Photogrophy EditorSophomore Amanda Dailor knocks down a header against VMI at Greenwood Field last Thursday.
see LADIES on page 8
Women’s soccer down VMI, fall to Radford in conference play
SPORTS
The UNC Asheville men’s soccer team looks forward to their next game after losing to Mercer University last Wednes-day and losing to Winthrop University Saturday.
“I think going into (next) Wednes-day’s game, it’s important for us to fo-cus on holding a high level of intensity throughout the game, which is some-thing we have struggled with recently,” sophomore forward Kenneth Linger-felt said.
The Bulldogs lost 4-0 against Mercer and 3-1 against Winthrop. Sophomore Stabler Cochrane scored his first goal of the season against Winthrop, according to the UNCA Bulldogs press release.
Lingerfelt said the team needs to im-prove organization to consistently make goals.
“I would say our greatest strength is our ability to keep the ball in possession, but in order for us to score goals, we have to be much more organized and danger-ous when we attack,” Lingerfelt said.
Coach Matt Kern said the game against Presbyterian College on Wednes-day will be important for the Bulldogs.
“Both teams have struggled with cre-ating good records,” Kern said. “We’ll have two good training days on Monday and Tuesday, and hopefully we’ll see a good result.”
Co-captain Bobby Castro said the team needs to concentrate on seizing fa-vorable moments during the game.
“Our focus for Presbyterian College is
to finish our opportunities,” Castro said. “We have been creating chances, and now all we have to do is put the ball in the back of the net.”
Castro said one of his roles is to keep the t eam upbeat.
“Right now I feel like my responsibil-ity as captain is to keep everything posi-tive throughout the team,” Castro said. “We have not won many games so far, so it is important to remain positive and optimistic.”
According to Lingerfelt, the team has not lost confidence, despite the two loss-es last week.
“I would say we are definitely frustrat-ed with the loss, but we are still confident that we can be successful,” Lingerfelt said. “We have a young team, and we are still trying to put the pieces together.”
Kern said a young team has both posi-tive and negative qualities.
“We are playing a lot of freshmen this season,” Kern said. “Youth is good in some regards because they have less fear, but inexperience is something we struggle with.”
The team still has strong, mature play-ers, Kern said.
“We have one senior, David Parra, who has done a great job on the field this season,” Kern said. “Our captains are two juniors.”
Castro said the inexperience of the players and how it affects the team.
“I think the younger guys look to me for guidance because of my experience,” Castro said. “College soccer is still new to them so they have uncertainty about things.”
THE BLUE BANNER10.3.12
Men’s soccer shut out by Mercer, still winless in Big South
7
Photo by Emily Foley - Staff PhotographerJunior co-captian Bobby Castro maneuvers against Winthrop’s Thomas Brennon at Greenwood Field last Wednesday.
Emily Honeycutt [email protected] - Staff Writer
The UNC Asheville cross country teams hosted their first home meet in five years, finishing with a champi-onship for the men, and second place for women.
The meet was held at Asheville Christian Academy, the first race hosted by the Bulldogs since 2007. UNCA and ACA have a partnership with athletic facilities, sharing outdoor track and distance courses.
“It’s about collaboration,” UNCA Athletic Direc-tor Janet Cone said. “It’s a pretty decent course and a
good deal we have with them.”The Bulldog men dominated the top 10, with only
one Wofford runner breaking the pack. “We’re a young team but we’re committed and con-
sistent,” junior Sebastian Paniagua said. “We came out here and did what we wanted.”
Despite misting rain and a slippery course, the Bull-dogs had strong individual performances. Sophomore Kevin Paradise and senior Emma Bussard set personal bests, crossing the finish line first in their races.
“We build off each other’s energy,” Paradise said. “We run hip-to-hip and it really helps to push yourself
the whole way.”Paradise finished the 8 kilometer race in 26:02.68.Bussard finished the 5 kilometer race with a time of
18:19.17. Head Coach Jesse Norman said her time was good, but hopes Bussard will break the 18-minute mark this season. Norman expects both teams to drop times.
“We’ve really been getting after it,” Norman said. “We’re cranking down and being hard on them. Hope-fully it will pay off in a couple weeks.”
The men’s and women’s team will travel to Louis-ville, Ky., for the Pre-National meet on Oct. 17.
ter having to sit through a little bit of a rain delay – I am just really, really proud today.”
The field conditions contributed to the first goal of the day, as Radford’s goalkeeper, Che’ Brown, slipped after mishandling a possession and Kaitlyn Eckert capitalized by dribbling the ball in for her fifth goal of the season in the fourth minute of the game.
Demko said the elements did not play a part in their preparation for the game. She said they only focused on the things
they can control, not the things they can-not.
Rachel Conway tied the game 1-1 at the 12:29 mark by way of a penalty kick that got by goalkeeper Heather Muller. Muller had 9 saves after that score.
With a combined 25 fouls called be-tween the two teams, UNCA showed they were not going to be bullied by anyone.
UNCA fired the ball at the net. Unfor-tunately, the shots either sailed too high or landed in the hands of the goalkeeper. They held an edge in shots over Rad-ford, 18-14.
“Radford was strong defensively, but I think we were just really unlucky,” freshman Paige Trent said. “We created
so many chances and took so many shots during the game, and I feel like on any other day, those shots would have gone in. We just have to keep taking those chances, and the goals will come.”
Demko said she was pleased with the way her girls were able to create oppor-tunities for themselves with shots.
Radford took the lead in minute 22 after Sahar Aflaki dribbled the ball be-tween two defenders, passed to Mary Wiley and drilled the ball past Muller for the goal.
Demko said the goals Radford scored came by the Bulldogs turning the ball over in places that put them in trouble.
“That’s the game of soccer though. If you have a turnover, you can get pun-
ished for it,” Demko said.The Highlanders took a 3-1 lead as
Wiley scored her second goal on the af-ternoon in minute 52.
Garrett scored her second goal of the season after a cross field pass from Trent in the final minute of the game as UNCA fought until the final whistle.
“If we can continue to have that level of play for the rest of conference games, then we are going to surprise a lot of people,” Demko said.
After the loss, the Bulldogs are now 3-9 on the season, and 1-3 in the Big South. They are on the road this week at Campbell for a Thursday night game at 7 p.m., and then head to Liberty for a Saturday afternoon game at 1 p.m.
SPORTS8 10.3.12
LADIEScontinued from page 6
Tyler Sprinkle [email protected] - Asst. Sports Editor
UNCA hosts first cross country meet in five years
Photo by Ricky Emmons - Asst. Photography EditorJunior Erin Ryan makes her way up field during the UNCA vs. VMI soccer game on last Thursday. The team won 4-2.
For years the media, shaped our per-ception, of body image and beauty. This dynamic began after World War II, when the public began accepting thinner and
thinner images as beautiful. Research shows mass me-dia has profound effects on the public’s understanding of beauty. By perpetuating unhealthy and unrealistic body ideals, Photoshop and our youth-obsessed cul-ture are ruining the world.
According to research released by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, in a survey offered to girls 9 and 10 years old, 40 percent have tried to lose weight. Another survey, released by the National Institute on Media and the Family, 78 percent of teen-age girls are unhappy with their bodies by the time they turn 17.
Further research explains an unaccepting and unhealthy attitude toward one’s personal body image only increases throughout adulthood.
When unflattering images recently surfaced of Lady Gaga performing at a concert in Amsterdam, the media backlash was outright appalling. One British tabloid even splashed the pop singer’s photographs across the front page of the paper underneath a head-line screaming, “Porker Face.”
Gaga quickly defended herself by posting her own
scantily clad pictures on her website, little monsters.com, and urged fans to “triumph over insecurities.”
At some point, we must ask ourselves what kind of culture is created when outside perspectives, like me-dia and politics, are able to determine how one feels about their own body.
Clothing stores, magazines and fashion designers continue to use young teens to model their clothing aimed toward adult women. Lingerie catalogs and women’s magazines are filled with supermodels who have been airbrushed and photoshopped to the point of looking unrecognizable.
Fed up with the unrealistic images of beauty con-tinuously pushed by mass media, 14-year-old Julia Bluhm launched a petition through Change.org urging Seventeen magazine to publish one photo spread of teen models who have not been tweaked or retouched by Photoshop.
More than 84,000 signatures supported Bluhm’s movement. Seventeen magazine responded in the August 2012 issue, vowing the girls’ magazine will
“celebrate every kind of beauty” with “real girls and models who are healthy.”
Seventeen magazine’s effort to join in the fight against unrealistic images of beauty is a small step in the right direction. Many are beginning to realize the images of beauty and health perpetuated for years by the media are not only completely unrealistic, but also dangerous and damaging to culture and society.
“I wish I were skinny,” can be heard from young children. This is not the mentality any child should carry. According to the National Association of An-orexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders, more than 8 million Americans battle an eating disorder each year. Ninety percent of those suffering from eat-ing disorders are female.
“Healthy is the New Skinny” is an organization cre-ated in 2011 urging fashion houses and media outlets to feature healthy and relatable women in their fashion and advertising campaigns. HNS’s mission statement explains, “Healthy is the New Skinny is a multi-platform movement to bring a message of health, joy and responsibility to the beauty and fashion industries. Through bold and creative initiatives, HNS works with media, corporate and modeling partners to create lasting change.”
An increasing awareness toward healthy and real-istic body image will inevitably create lasting accep-tance of one’s own body. There are certain parts of
Savages of my faith do not represent me.
As an American-Jew, after viewing the video of controversial Egyptian-
American journalist Mona Eltahway being arrested after spray painting over an anti-Palestinian advertise-ment, my first thought was, “This is so badass.”
At UNC Asheville, one of my missions is to destroy the negative stereotypes which plague the Muslim re-ligion and culture because once in history, my religion and culture were targeted as well.
I joined the Muslim Student Association as an out-reach coordinator, attend Muslim functions and give lectures to friends about how Islam is being disgraced as a savage religion.
When I found out Pamela Geller and her organiza-tion American Freedom Defense Initiative were the founder of such hate ads, it felt like my duty should be a spokesperson for American-Jews against hate speech. Pamela Geller is also an American-Jew.
The racist ad which reads, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized
man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad,” is yet another attempt by AFDI to spread hateful rhetoric across the United States. The New York Post was able to capture a video of Eltahway spraying the paint as photogra-pher Pamela Hall attempted to block her for her 15 minutes of fame.
Hall asks Eltahway, “Mona, do you think you have the right to do this?” Mona answers, “I do actually. I think this is freedom of expression, just as this is freedom of expression.”
After a mini five-minute cat-fight session, Hall re-fuses to back down from Eltahway, screaming for her to stop. Eventually, an officer came over and broke up what was not even close to a fight, but was not able to keep Eltahway from screaming her views.
“This is a non-violent protest,” says Elthaway in the video. “See this, America? I’m an Egyptian-Ameri-can, and I refuse hate.”
The ads were controversial and originally denied by
the city’s Metropolitan Transport Authority. The MTA was later forced to put ads in 10 subway stations around the city. Freedom of expression is a precious human right, and the AFDI gets to have this right as well.
After ads ran on San Francisco buses, MTA tried to suppress the ads claming they were “demeaning.” The U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer over-ruled the MTA’s decision under the First Amendment clause. The New York office of the Anti-Defamation League released a statement against the the court’s decision calling it “highly offensive and inflamma-tory.” However, the ADL did agree that the AFDI had the right to free expression. Geller called the decision “a victory for the First Amendment” and in an inter-view with Fox News, she did not feel these ads would incite protests from Muslims.
The AFDI is an ignorant, controversial organiza-
see WEIGHT on page 10
910.3.12 CAMPUS VOICE
see HATE on page 10
Right wing activist promotes hate ads on New York subways
Heidi [email protected] - Staff Writer
Studies show media promote underlying messages to young women Body images defined by popular magazine
Maayan [email protected] Asst. Campus Voice Editor
“By perpetuating unhealthy andunrealistic body ideals, Photoshop
and our youth-obsessedculture are ruining the world.”
“Regardless of what your beliefs may be, this is a time for all of us to stand up against hatred and bigotry.”
the body, particularly the female pelvis, that never stop growing. Everyone (most obviously, women) wants thin hips and a tiny waist. Unfortunately, this may be a goal that can never be achieved, no matter how many sit-ups and planks we do, or how many laps we may run.
A 2011 study released by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found the average woman’s pelvis will widen at least one inch between the ages of 20-79, regardless of diet and exercise. This uncontrollable increase in pelvic size results in an average three inch increase in women’s waist lines.
Even those who are considered to be the most beautiful women in the world have a tough time attaining, or even maintaining, the media’s ideal image of beauty. Sev-eral critics reacted harshly when Beyoncé Knowles dropped 20 pounds for her role in the 2006 film Dreamgirls, preferring the “Bootylicious” singer’s curvier ap-
pearance. Marilyn Monroe’s dressmaker ex-
plained even the beautiful bombshell struggled with her weight. Recently awarded the title of “Best Beach Body of All Time,” Monroe’s weight fluctuated between 118 and 140 pounds.
In an effort to maintain her positive public image, Monroe’s diet consisted of warm milk with two raw eggs for break-fast, nothing for lunch and broiled steak, lamb or liver with four or five raw carrots for dinner. Her evening snack was always a hot-fudge sundae. We have to treat ourselves, sometime, right?
While Monroe’s diet was certainly un-balanced and probably even contributed to the beauty’s weight fluctuations, it is
clear even the beautiful ones, who others admire and look up to, often struggle to find happiness with their bodies.
Women especially need to gain educa-tion about what is healthy and ideal for their specific bodies. The Photoshopped and overly-edited images that flood our minds are not real.
When supermodels like Heidi Klum or Gisele Bundshen can no longer take a picture without a body part supposedly needing retouching, the ideal image of beauty has gone too far.
Once women no longer allow media images to determine how they should look and feel, women will undoubtedly to be able to accept their own beautiful, naturally-created bodies.
10 10.3.12THE BLUE BANNER
WEIGHTcontinued from page 9
ads, posters and even T-shirts. According to the AFDI website, they are “fighting the good fight in the information battle space.” This is not the first time the AFDI has been in the press.
In late 2004, Geller created a blog called AtlasShrugs where she posts her opinions as well as her twists on the news to inform her readers about Islam. Her organization spreads ads across the United States ranging from calling Palestinians “savages” to ads reading “19,250: Deadly Attacks Since 9/11/01. It’s not Islamaphobia. It’s Islamareal-ism.” Geller has made a profit out of inducing fear into Ameri-can minds.
What the organization is re-ally doing is spreading hate and stereotyping. Apparently, Gellar believes she is some kind of prophet for the ignorant.
Geller would refer to many like myself as a “leftist-Jew.” But what we really are are people who fight for the civil rights of all, whether or not we all agree with their ideals. However, I refuse to let Geller disgrace my religion and culture to hate on another.
The voices of the American-Jewish community are very im-portant right now. While Israel is at the core of many of our identities, and many of us care about the well being of Israelis who have suffered at the hands of Muslim extremists, we must denounce Geller and the ADFI efforts to stereotype.
Regardless of what your beliefs may be, this is a time for all of us to stand up against hatred and bigotry. We must all use our freedom of expression to reject the hate in these ads. Geller is an unwanted infec-tion to the American-Jewish community. Her voice must not override those that continue to fight for peace and coexistence. This fight should not involve Israel versus Palestine. This battle should not involve Jewish versus Muslim.
This is a fight dealing with those in the belief of harming others and the belief of living together in something similar to harmony. Geller is abusing her right to freedom of expression and now is a time to beat her in her own race.
HATEcontinued from page 9 “Even those who are considered to be the most
beautiful women in the world have a tough timeattaining, or even maintaining, the media’s
ideal image of beauty.”
Illustration by Erich Reinhard
8.29.12 11CAMPUS VOICE10.3.12
The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Wednesday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks. Our office is located in Karpen Hall 019.
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Letters should include the writer’s name, year in school, and major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a telephone number to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing.
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Have a news tip?send to [email protected]
The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Wednesday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks. Our office is located in Karpen Hall 019.
The Blue Banner is a desig-nated forum for free speech and welcomes letters to the editor, considering them on basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles should be emailed to the editor-in-chief or the appropriate section editor.
Letters should include the writer’s name, year in school, and major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a telephone number to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing.
The Blue Banner Editorial BoardKarpen Hall 019 (828) 251-6586 www.thebluebanner.net
Have a news tip?send to [email protected]
Auburn Petty, Editor-in-Chief [email protected]
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tbarrett @unca.edu
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Amarra Ghani, Campus Voice [email protected]
Beckett Bathanti, Sports [email protected]
Gabriel Ainslie, Photography [email protected]
Trevor Metcalfe, Managing Editor
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Becca Morello, Copy Desk Assistant
Tyler Sprinkle, Assistant Sports [email protected]
Mayaan Schecter, Assistant Campus Voice [email protected]
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Michael Gouge, Faculty [email protected]
Girls’ education in Afghanistan makes major stridesWith terrorists ruling the majority of Afghanistan,
education for young girls seemed almost impossible.That is, until Razia Jan took control of the situa-
tion.Jan, the founder of a girls’ school outside of Kabul,
was recently given the CNN Heroes Award, an an-nual television special created by CNN to highlight individuals who make an extraordinary effort for humanitarian projects.
In an interview with CNN, Jan explained the conditions young girls go through on a daily basis on their way to school.
“Every day, you hear that somebody’s thrown acid at a girl’s face or they poison their water,” she told CNN.
The hardships these girls face are truly unfortunate; to have women like Jan risk their lives in order to better the lives of others should be given tremendous attention. It is not every day you see people restoring faith in humanity.
Disregarding the violence in Afghanistan, Jan con-tinues to make breakthroughs in her work in her two story, 14-room building in Zabuli Education Center where 354 girls are receiving a free education.
Americans are granted a somewhat free education, paid through taxes, until one graduates high school. A free American education gets you to and from school with the help of a yellow school bus and a provided free lunch if you meet the standards of a
low income family. A free education according to an Afghan girl might
be risking her life on the way to, from and even dur-ing school. It would also include being careful from which water fountain you drink from because the water might have been poisoned the night before.
Though Zabuli Education Center region is not con-trolled by the Taliban, she has be to be extra careful for the safety of the students.
She told CNN in order to shield the students from attacks, she built a stonewall to surround the school. She also uses the guards, staff and principal as hu-man guinea pigs.
“The principal and the guard, they test the water every day,” Jan said. “They will drink from the well. If it’s OK, they’ll wait, then they’ll fill the coolers and bring it into the classroom.”
She also makes the guards arrive earlier in the mornings to check for any gas or poison that might have been leaked inside the classrooms. An entire procedure is done before the school session for the day.
People like Jan have ambition and create a hope for humanity.
Ambition for humanity seems almost non-existant because of the horror stories the public is bombarded with.
The news and media forces us to believe people like Jan are not real. They are out there, and they are
doing not just good but extraordinary things for the greater good.
The women and children of Afghanistan are bru-tally, tortured both mentally and psychically. It is hard to understand a level of evil we as Americans do not see.
While Jan’s life in America was fulfilling and en-riching, her dream for the future of Afghanistan and educating girls became her focus.
In 2004, she started to find a region in Afghanistan to build a school, and in 2005 she started to fundraise through her Massachusetts-based nonprofit, “Razia’s Ray of Hope.”
The school is entirely free, which in most third world countries is hard to maintain. The fees for the school are paid for through donations to her nonprof-it; the cost of student is $300 for an entire year.
In an interview with CNN, Jan takes no money for her work with the school. She said the education her students receive will benefit not only future generations of Afghan women but the country as a whole.
“My school is very small. It’s nothing big. But for this to start here, I think it’s like a fire. And I think it will grow,” she said to CNN.
“I hope that one day these girls will come back and teach because I’m not going to be there all my life. I want to make this school something that will last 100 years from now.”
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