How to Confront the Pressure to be Perfect

by Emily Cusick, PHC VP Programming

On Friday, March 5, Cornell's Panhellenic Council sponsored "How to Confront the Pressure to be Perfect", a lecture by author Liz Funk.  Liz, who wrote the book "Supergirls Speak Out", discussed the pressures that young women today feel from the media, their peers, the opposite sex, but most of all, from themselves.  Throughout her talk, Liz helped the young women realize that there are many proactive steps that Cornellian women can take to be happier and healthier, ranging from scheduling free time into daily schedules to demanding self-respect through limited use of alcohol when socializing.  At the end of the talk, the 60 women in attendance asked candid questions about their own lives and participated in a discussion about the realities of sorority life here at Cornell.  The lecture was the final event of Women's Wellness Week, a week-long series of forums and events sponsored by Panhellenic in order to publicize the many pressures and wellness concerns that are present on Cornell's campus.