2. TRASHING NEGATIVE SELF-TALK 2
According to Etcoff (2004), “only 4% of women around the world consider themselves
beautiful.” This fact was very alarming to me. Having a positive self-body image is important for
the mental health of our society. It has been brought to my attention by a Dove campaign that our
civilization engages in a phenomenon called fat talk. Fat talk refers to when people speak
negatively about their body or someone else’s body. (Salk, 2012, 636) This can be said in many
forms. Have you ever heard someone say, “I look fat in these jeans”, “her legs look huge in that
swimsuit”, or “my arms are too flabby”? In my own life, I have heard many of my peers engage
in fat talk. A study published by Psychology of Women Quarterly of “college women found that
93% engaged in this type of talk.” (Salk, 2012, 638) Because this issue is very prevalent in my
community, I decided to address this problem to the San Jose State students for my spring
project.
I chose this topic because the way we speak to our bodies can be easily overlooked and
very harmful. A study reported that participants of fat talk increase the amount of body
dissatisfaction and guilt. (Salk, 2012, 637) Negative language can lead people to feel bad about
their minds and bodies. We speak thousands of words every day and it is easy to fall into fat talk.
Fat talk is associated with depression and the pressure to be thin. (Arroyo, 2012, 175) I have
noticed that many people, including myself, comment about appearance to initiate a
conversation. Not many people realize that this type of conversation can be damaging. For
example, “Your skin looks really good, Vanessa!” or “Robert, you look really good. Did you
lose weight?” Even if they seem to be compliments, it could make the other person feel as if their
skin did not look good before or that their previous body was overweight. It is important to know
that our words have power and that there are other things we can talk about than just
appearances.
3. TRASHING NEGATIVE SELF-TALK 3
Trashing Negative Self-Talk Tabling Guidelines
Materials Checklist
Purpose & Objectives
Purpose: The purpose of this activity is for students to be aware of how much fat talk they
engage in and how it can affect one’s view of their body.
Objective:
1. Students will learn the definition of fat talk.
2. Students will be challenged to end fat talk from their conversations.
3. Students will learn other facts about how fat talk can be damaging to their health.
Activity
Set-Up Directions: Print out the fact cards and the pledge cards to hand out. Cut 25 pieces of
paper in half. Collect the rest of the materials.
Facilitation Directions:
1. Before the activity begins, ask students what they think fat talk is.
2. Explain that fat talk refers to any state that contributes to one’s dissatisfaction with their
bodies.
3. Tell them one fact from the fact card. Did you know…
- 46% of 9-11 year olds are on diets?
- Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women?
Labeled Trash Can 10 Fact Cards
50 Half-sheets of Paper 20 Pledge Cards
5 pens 1 Clipboard
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- 90% of all women ages 15-64 want to change at least one aspect of
their physical appearance, with body weight ranking the highest?
- One out of every four college aged women uses unhealthy methods
of weight control? (Excessive exercise, laxatives, self-induced
vomiting, skipping meals, etc.)
4. Ask them to write down something negative that they often say about their body on a
piece of paper.
5. Tell them to crumple it up and throw it in the trash!
6. If they are interested, they can pledge to eliminate fat talk from their conversation
forever!
Final Question
What is the definition of fat talk? What is an example?
Take Home Message
The take home message of this activity is for my peers to realize how much fat talk we all
engage in.
Website Resource
http://bi3d.tridelta.org/
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Delta Delta Delta Fraternity, Inc. served as an inspiration for my spring project. Their
philanthropy is body image awareness and education. Although they are not an organization on
our campus, their events initiatives are available online for anyone who would like to host it on
their own campus. I conducted the activity on campus on Monday, April 21, 2014 from 3-5pm. I
stationed myself in the Campus Village Housing Quad. I chose this location because I know that
it is populated with students at all hours of the day.
It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon to facilitate my activity! Because I did not have a big
sign to grab much attention, I actively went up to students and asked them to participate. I
strategically chose a short activity so that more students would participate. A lot of them that
seemed busy walking to classes were still able to give me a minute of their time. Every time I
asked one of my peers if they have engaged in fat talk, I received a confirming answer. No one
that I talked to that day said that they have never engaged in fat talk. This behavior was more
common than I anticipated.
Because I am passionate about this topic, I had a lot of fun telling others about it. The
topic of self-body image was interesting to other students. I could tell that they were paying close
attention to my words because their eyes were focused on me the entire time. Some students put
thought and emotion as they crumpled up their paper. The statistic that surprised students the
most was that 46% of 9-11 year olds are on diets. Most of the students asked me to repeat that
sentence after I said it once. Using the information change strategy played a big role on the
reaction of the students. I feel like it helped make a difference in the way people thought about
fat talk.
When I asked students if they wanted to take the pledge to end fat talk, a lot of them were
not sure they could do it. They promised to work to reduce the amount of fat talk that they
6. TRASHING NEGATIVE SELF-TALK 6
engage in, but it would be hard to end it completely. Little progress is still better than no
progress! I evaluated the effectiveness of this activity by asking a final question before the
participant left. I wanted them to walk away with the definition of fat talk with the intention of
making the change. Almost every student was able to explain what fat talk was. I was glad that I
was able to bring attention to this topic.
Next time, I could incorporate more than one activity at my station. Maybe I can add a
section where the students can write one thing that they like about their body and post it
somewhere. Another thing I would like to do differently is facilitate this station with a partner in
order to reach out to more people. It is hard to bring other people to participate if you are busy
facilitating the activity. I would recommend doing this project with a team of two or more! This
project addressed the community education level on the spectrum of prevention. The activity was
available to the community of San Jose State students.
What I did can be useful beyond this semester. Now that I have an idea on how many
people are affected by negative body image, I can bring it to the attention of health professionals.
Together, we can create bigger projects that will reach a larger amount of people. On a smaller
scale, I can start a social media campaign to raise awareness about body image. I can also host
more activities on our campus. Pursuing this prevention program will make a positive difference
in the future of our community. If we aim to reduce fat talk, it could reduce the risk of eating
disorders. (Katrevich, 2014, 50) Aiming to make the change in our community now will
positively affect how we raise the next generation.
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Attachment 1: Using the Social Ecological Web of Solutions to End Negative Self-Talk
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Attachment 2: Using the Spectrum of Prevention to End Negative Self-Talk
Building awareness within individuals and reducing their risks of eating disorders will
also reduce the risk of their peers following their behavior. We can prevent this one thing at a
time. If one person can monitor his or her use of fat talk, it can influence their friends and peers
to do the same.
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References
Arroyo, A., & Harwood, J. (2012). Exploring the causes and consequences of engaging in fat
talk. Journal Of Applied Communication Research, 40(2), 167-187.
Etcoff, N., Orbach, S., Scott, J., D’Agostino, H. (2004). The real truth about beauty: a global
report. Findings of a Global Study on Women, Beauty and Well-Being, 1-48.
Katrevich, A. V., Register, J. D., & Aruguete, M. S. (2014). The effects of negative body talk
in an ethnically diverse sample of college students. North American Journal of
Psychology, 16(1), 43-52.
Salk, R. H., & Engeln-Maddox, R. (2012). Fat talk among college women is both contagious and
harmful. Sex Roles, 66(10), 636-645.
Salk, R. H., & Engeln-Maddox, R. (2011). “If you’re fat, then I’m humongous!”: Frequency,
content, and impact of fat talk among college women. Psychology Of Women
Quarterly, 35(1), 18-28.
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Final Product/Evidence
Social Media Promotion Flyer
Contact Name: Samantha Nguyen
Email: Samantha.nguyen01@sjsu.edu
12. TRASHING NEGATIVE SELF-TALK 12
One student signing a pledge that she will not engage in fat talk! The student on the right
is writing down one negative statement that he says to himself often.
These students are trashing their negative statements! They are saying “no” to fat talk!
