A social media campaign called #DCUarePerfect, run by DCU students, is promoting different body types as the norm.
The campaign, which runs until the end of the week, promotes physical diversity in DCU on multiple social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“We wanted to run a campaign that was very specific to DCU students,” a student behind the project, Gemma Tuffy said. “We felt that there was a need for a broad campaign that really got the message out; that difference is actually normal.”
“The majority of the population is actually affected by negative body image at some point and when you look at the age profile, you find that young people are disproportionately affected so they are the ones that most experience issues relating to negative body image,” Tuffy said.
With the campaign, #DCUArePerfect hopes to challenge the images that we see in mass media and social media.
“Because social media is one of the areas where you’re bombarded with archetypical images of unrepresentative body types, we’re trying to make it so that social media can actually empower you,” Tuffy said, “you can actually challenge any of the negatives of social media and one of those negatives is the amount of images you’re getting that are telling you that your body is not okay.”
The campaign calls all DCU students to action to take part in the conversation and to challenge the dominant opinions of what a perfect body is like. During the campaign students will be encouraged to share their pictures and stories on social media to show that physical difference is the norm and should be celebrated.
Sonja Sjögren
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