Road Rules Rachel & Veronica Discuss Body Image & Eating Disorders

Rachel & Veronica from Road Rules were lecturing on positive body image & eating disorders for young women at Ohio State on Monday November 6th.

Rachel Robinson stated, “As women on the MTV network, we felt we needed to put a speech together that had something to say aside from gossip about our shows. We need to address this subject matter here on campus. We can’t ignore it.”

Veronica Portillo opened up that she starved herself growing up in Orange County, California often eating only an apple a day. Ironically she was cast to be on Road Rules when she was at the depths of her starvation.

Veronica stated, “I found strength by traveling the world (on the show) and seeing how women are celebrated for their bodies. That was how I found inspiration.”

Rachel follow up by saying, “Confidence is the key to success. Media images are not reflections of reality. As individuals, we decide how to experience the media messages we encounter. (These images) are always going to exist. They won’t stop. It’s up to us to become a critical viewer and a smart viewer.”

Most interesting revelation I thought was when Rachel declared, “The men on our shows are more body conscious than the women.” She said this is because of the integration of metrosexuality into society, and the increasing use of steroids.

Rachel will be speaking at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven on Friday November 17th, 2006. She will be lecturing on LGBT issues.