FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2004
Contact: David Wolfe, Associated Students, (707) 664- 3949

One-Woman Show Explores Negative Body-Image Issues in "This is My Body,"

"This is My Body," a frank, one-woman show exploring issues that confront young women, will be performed at 8 p.m. on Thurs., Feb. 26 in Warren Auditorium. Actress and playwright Amy Fortoul uses a combination of sound, poetic text, dance and movement to vividly deconstruct the complex causes that promote women’s negative body image. She takes an honest, powerful approach to such topics as eating disorders, body image, menstruation, depression, sexuality and the threat of sexual violence in this work.

The play depicts women throughout their life span — an image-conscious 14 year old, a young feminist who still feels the pressure to look like a fashion model, and a woman confronting her problems with food as she ages.

Sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center and Associated Student Productions, the play illustrates how women internalize the negative body stereotypes fed to them through a consumer-oriented society and Western media values. Dance is used to illustrate the dual bond between the character’s tortured body and mind.

Admittance is free.

For more information, contact the Women’s Resource Center at (707) 664-2845.