Body Positive Cornell Initiative Hopes to Push Back Against Societal Stereotypes About Weight and Health

“I’m not accepting what I can’t change, I’m changing what I can’t accept,” activist and entrepreneur Sonya Renee Taylor said Sept. 20, at a Body Positive Cornell event, a University initiative striving to help Cornellians lead a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t focus on weight. “Our society tells us that we should be able to lose weight and keep it off, and always promises this or that diet as the solution,” Jennie Bernstein, Body Positive outreach coordinator at Cornell Health, told The Sun. The resulting detrimental effects including stigmatization of heavier weights and harmful behavior like “weight cycling,” the practice of losing and gaining weight repeatedly. Instead, Bernstein believes that taking the emphasis off weight and instead focusing on “improving health and lifestyle behaviors” is a better attitude towards our bodies and life in general, as weight doesn’t have a direct connection to health conditions.

SEX ON THURSDAY | Me, Myself and I

We are a week away from that holiday: Valentine’s Day. Having been single for 22 years continuously, I’ve really grown to hate this consumption-driven, exclusionary, sickly-pink holiday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a #strongindependentwoman and know I don’t need a lovey-dovey partner to 1) have fun, 2) be happy or 3) orgasm, but seeing all of the cheesy affection on display reminds me that I’ll never achieve that linear, heteronormative, Hallmark-romance love that society hearts so very much. So, if you’ve found love just in time to avoid being single on this dreadful day, go fuck yourself, this article isn’t for you. But if you’re a single soul like myself on this miserable day, here are my top 10 Valentine’s Day tips and tricks to hating this day a little less, and loving yourself a little more.

MARY’S MUSINGS | Be You, Be Happy

Being happy isn’t something that others can do for you; it’s something that you need to find for yourself.  Sometimes, or maybe too often, happiness is a battle.  People have always described me as a bubbly and positive person.  I excel at helping others and trying to put a smile on their faces to brighten their days.  I’m that person that smiles at strangers on the street.