When you get right down to it, beneath all the layers of clothes, we might just be lumps of meat, fat, bones and sinew wrapped up in skin; but in some ways, we’re more than that. Our bodies aren’t just things to walk around in, they are our essence, the thing that we present to the world that says, “This is me.” At some point in our lives, we have hated that body, we have glared at ourselves in the mirror and poked and pinched the things we didn’t like about it. Once in a while, we might even go to the doctor and say, “Doc, cut me up, I want to be beautiful.”
Over the next several pages, you’ll find RIT students posing in swimsuits. These brave volunteers took it upon themselves to get in front of a camera in the depths of winter and be honest about their bodies. Flip through, read what they have to say, and be kind.
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| Shane Lavancher |
“I’d probably change like 5,012 different things. My boobs are tiny. My butt is too big. Maybe I could just reverse it, but that might not work out so well.”
— Heather Corteau, Third Year New Media Interactive Development
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| Shane Lavancher |
“I play for RIT Ultimate ... My weight goes up and down with the seasons, it fluctuates.”
— Clem Pin, Fourth Year Mechanical Engineering
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| Shane Lavancher |
“[When I look in the mirror], for the most part, I like what I see. I mean, I like how tall I am, but I can’t stand my stomach.”
— Elena Small, Fourth Year International Studies
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| Shane Lavancher |
“A good body image is obviously going to be different for everybody; but as long as someone is happy or content with how they look, then it’s fine .... As for my body, I like the way I look. I wouldn’t mind a little more muscle though, and I work on that when I can.”
— Niles LaCoss, Fourth Year Information Technology
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| Shane Lavancher |
“I just want to create a resilient strong body. Because when I was younger I had really bad asthma, and that kind of limited me from doing any physical activities.”
— Ko Kawazoe, Third Year New Media Design and Imaging
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| Shane Lavancher |
“I think everybody, in some way, has some sort of reservations about what they think about their own body. In that light, it sort of makes it easier for me to get along with my body.”
— Kyle O’Neill, Fourth Year New Media Marketing Major
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| Shane Lavancher |
“I feel proud of my body and I don’t care that, you know, I have a few pounds on me ... You don’t need to be thin or fit to look good ... I could lose a couple pounds or whatever, but at the same time, it’s not as high of an importance for me.”
— Victor Santiago, Second Year Graphic Design
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| Shane Lavancher |
“I’m a vegetarian and I try to eat really healthy foods ... I dance ... I do yoga, too. I’m going to be a yoga instructor someday.”
— Kaelyn Rogers, Third Year New Media Publishing
