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Students at the University of South Carolina smashed scales that were decorated and donated by sororities and organizations.<\/p>\n
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University of South Carolina students wielded sledgehammers and baseball bats to bathroom scales Wednesday in an effort to destroy society\u2019s concept of a perfect body image.<\/p>\n
Students joined the Carolina BeYOUtiful campaign to encourage self-love and break the stigma around eating disorders and body image.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know what it feels like to just not feel good enough,\u201d said McCall Dempsey, founder of the nonprofit Southern Smash. \u201cSmashing the scale itself is so cathartic, it\u2019s empowering, whether or not you\u2019re tied down to a number on the scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dempsey silently struggled with an eating disorder for 15 years and founded Southern Smash in 2012 as a way to begin the conversation on topic that she felt was not spoken about enough. Dempsey, now a mother of two, spent 81 days in a residential treatment program in Durham, North Carolina in 2010.<\/p>\n
Student Body Vice President Mills Hayes got involved with Carolina BeYOUtiful and brought Southern Smash to UofSC in support of the \u201cStigma Free USC\u201d campaign. Hayes was recently treated for an eating disorder and wanted to highlight the disease as a mental illness and promote positive body image.<\/p>\n
\u201cEating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cThis is something that is really personal to me, I\u2019m thankful that so many people in student government were behind me on this and wanted to do something to support this mental illness.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the National Eating Disorder Association, the 18-24 age group is most affected by eating disorders which include, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Southern Smash focuses on the problems college students experiences.<\/p>\n
The scales were decorated and donated by sororities and other organizations across campus, and any student feeling frustrated could smash one. \u201cWe all have something we have to smash that is holding us back,\u201d Dempsey said.<\/p>\n
Curious students watched as participants laughed and lifted bats and hammers above their heads to shatter the scales that were confined in trash bags. Hayes cheered on males and females with words of encouragement, telling them to \u201csmash it harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
UofSC student health officials helped design the week-long program handed out buttons with quotes such as, \u201ctoo busy changing the world to change my body\u201d and \u201cmental health matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to deal with this for the rest of my life, I\u2019m going to constantly be fighting it. I hope one day I\u2019m fully recovered but I\u2019m not there yet,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n
Dempsey, a graduate of the University of Mississippi, hopes to bring Southern Smash to more college campuses and encourage students to become their best selves. She\u2019ll continue to bring the scales because to her, \u201cit just feels so damn good.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
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Student Body Vice President Mills Hayes organized and participated in the Southern Smash event.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Buttons and stickers were provided by the Student Health Center and Student Government with affirmations to promote positive body image.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The donated scales were on display for students to choose which one they would like to smash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Students were supplied with sledgehammers and baseball bats and encouraged to smash out their aggressions on the scales.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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