The Carnegie Arts Center held a free showing of the highly acclaimed documentary “Miss Representation” on Sunday, drawing in roughly 60 people from around the community.
The showing began with an introduction by Signe Darpinian, co-founder of Meghan’s Place Eating Disorder Center and author of “Knock Out Dieting.”
Darpinian spoke about the importance of self-acceptance for individuals, particularly young women who have developed eating disorders in order to be considered ‘beautiful’ by the standards of society.
“Anyone who thinks that self-acceptance doesn’t lead to change only knows it in theory, not in practice,” said Darpinian. “In practice with self-acceptance, if you adopt a self-acceptance practice that you engage in regularly, the quality of your thought and the quality of your action is going to come from self love. And when you come from a place of love, the urge to harm yourself in any way is going to diminish.”
The film “Miss Representation” looks at the way in which women and young girls view themselves in comparison to images of women that are portrayed by media. With an overwhelming importance put on a woman’s beauty and sexuality, many women and young girls believe that their value lies within those outward aspects rather than her ability and intellect.
The film examines various statistics, such as the fact that 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors, and focuses on how the media relates to those rising statistics. The film also questions whether – in the world of Photoshopped celebrities, rising rates of plastic surgery and anorexic runway models – a young girl can ignore the images that are placed before her daily through the media, and gain her own self-worth separate from those images.
“What I encourage you to do is to couple positive thinking with positive action,” said Darpinian. “Make a list of what your own positive attributes are, and it might be uncomfortable at first, because we’re used to looking at our faults. But this method of self-acceptance can be used as a route to self-improvement. How can you improve a self that you do not even accept?”
After the film, Darpinian held a book signing for interested audience members. The Carnegie Arts Center and the Turlock chapter of the American Association of University Women made the film screening possible.
For more information, call (209) 632-5761.
The Carnegie Arts Center is located at 250 N. Broadway in Turlock. For more information about the Carnegie Arts Center, visit www.carnegieartsturlock.org.
