Daily Skiff

Young women can stop counting calories and start taking control.

That's the message of award-winning author and journalist Courtney Martin, who is coming to campus Monday to discuss her book, "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters," and how disordered eating, food and fitness obsession have become normalized among college women, a university official said.

Martin said she was encouraged to write her book after college when she began mentoring young women.

"I saw how crippling the media was on women's self esteem and I felt a duty to be a voice for these women," Martin said. "There is no reason to settle for self-hate."

Martin said she is always encouraged when universities that she has visited start body image discussion groups, she said.

"A lot of times I receive e-mails from young women after my lecture about how much of a wake-up call I gave them, " Martin said. "The lecture really forces you to reflect on the choices you're making and whether or not they are worth it."

Martin said she encourages both women and men to attend her lecture.

"We are all wrestling with who we are and what our place is in this world," Martin said. "It is important for us to realize, however, that perfection is an illusion."

Ariane Balizet, assistant professor of Medieval and early modern British literature, went to high school in Colorado Springs, Colo. with Martin and said her message would benefit students who face an image-obsessed media everyday.

"Her lecture should be incredibly interactive and really insightful for young women," Balizet said. "Her approach to the topic is unique in that she doesn't just rely on medical studies, she takes a historical approach and explains how some of these expectations for perfection are handed down by our parents."

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