York says no to female body shame
By: Gracie Weinstein
On Tuesday, Oct. 18, York’s Empower Club hosted a school-wide event supporting an improvement in female body image by wearing no makeup to school.
This cause is also recognized outside of school as National “Love Your Body Day” on Oct. 19, with the organization N.O.W., or National Organization of Women. The official date for the cause is Oct. 19, but York students celebrated on the day before, due to PSAT testing on the 19th.
“We took the idea for no makeup day to raise awareness about the fact that a lot of girls spend so much time in the morning to get ready,” said senior Amanda Shafer, a senior who plays a key role in Empower, “[to] tell them [that] if you don’t want to look your best every day, that’s okay too, to alleviate the pressure.”
The club wanted to band together, along with the school, to create a larger idea of self-confidence due to the fact that at this age, this is something many have trouble with.
“We wanted York students to be aware of the day, understand what it’s about, and embrace your body,” said Kylie Travers, another senior who plays a large part in the club RAYS.
This day wouldn’t have been implemented at York if it wasn’t for Empower, all of who worked to spread awareness and confidence in girls.
“Empower supports social, economic, and political gender equality,” said Lindsay DiTomasso, the Empower sponsor.
To spread the equality and the word of National Love Your Body Day, Empower club also created other ways of communicating the message.
“In the bathrooms we have potty presses that say ‘I love my ____’,” said Travers.
Messages are placed all around school to constantly remind students that they are beautiful in their own ways. The reminders serve to enforce the ideas that they should be proud of their body image and should not compare themselves to others.
“This is a National Day of girls and women coming together across the country to embrace our bodies and show opposition to the often negative body images and stereotypes that the media sometimes portrays to perpetuate the ideas of strict and stereotypical gender roles,” said DiTomasso.
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