Courtney Martin, author of “Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: Quest for Perfection is Harming Young Women,” addresses a full Seigle Hall classroom on Tuesday night as part of Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Martin spoke on the pressure felt by youth to excel at every activity in which they participate.

The student group consists of almost 20 women who meet weekly to discuss how to best promote eating disorder awareness and education.

Eating Disorder Awareness Week—the main event Reflections organizes each spring, attempts to educate Wash. U. students about what eating disorders are and how to spot and prevent them.

Currently, Reflections has no male representation, likely because eating disorders mostly affect women. Washington University men, however, have no problem helping out when it comes to the “Love Your Body” campaign, which is one of the group’s most visible activities.

A tradition that began four years ago, “Love Your Body” entails a photo shoot that takes place in the fall. In the spring, the photographs are displayed across campus in tandem with Eating Disorder Awareness Week in order to promote positive body image.

“Love Your Body” photographs showcase undergraduates fully nude, with all necessary areas covered with a giant heart that reads “Love Your Body.” The shoot is a fun and sassy way for students to take pride in their bodies while promoting a healthy body image across campus—no audition required.

According to junior Rachel Mandelbaum, this year’s Eating Disorder Awareness Week chair, the photo shoot volunteers are not just a group of confident men and women seeking to show off their bodies. She explained that some participants volunteer to overcome their self-conscious tendencies. One particularly tall female participant, for example, confronted her insecurity about wearing heels by choosing to don them during the photo shoot.

Mandelbaum coordinated the week with a fresh perspective in mind. She aimed to highlight society’s influence on eating disorders—namely the unrealistic expectations put forth in the media, which constantly bombards us with airbrushed and edited pictures of the female “ideal.”

Reflections recognizes that many Wash. U. students often possess certain characteristics that can lead to the development of an eating disorder.

“Eating disorders thrive here because everyone is striving for unattainable perfection,” Mandelbaum said. Her sentiments were echoed by Reflections’ president, senior Annie Goldring, who described how the need to control grades and achievement can be manifested in other areas, such as one’s appearance.

Consulted by their own friends as well as other student groups including Uncle Joe’s and occasionally campus sororities, the members of Reflections hope to continue to expand programming to the greater St. Louis area, especially local high schools.

Though the forum would have to be adapted to a slightly younger audience, its purpose would generally be the same; teaching students the signs of an eating disorder and the many shapes and sizes they come in is a pertinent message for people of all ages, not just college students.

Reflections is also looking to increase its influence on freshman floors and during Orientation. With the guiding premise that education can help to ensure that problems are averted, Reflections hopes to teach students how to prevent and handle eating disorders appropriately and effectively.

“We’re not just a group of girls with eating disorders,” said Goldring, who explained that no one with an eating disorder is allowed to become a member because it would be hypocritical. Though some of Reflections’ members have dealt with eating disorders in the past, they have all overcome their obstacles and have united to fight against eating disorders and negative body image—both on campus and off.