Alex Markwell is an undergraduate student at York University who is currently studying psychology and has a previous degree in film. In collaboration with her friends, she created an informative animation about body image. Specifically, this short animation explores the complex experience of being categorized and judged based on our bodies and how this may shape our perception of ourselves and our self-worth. 

Markwell shares with the the TMHR  “My two friends and I created this short in our last year of film school as a way to explore the experience of being judged based on our bodies and how it shapes our perception of ourselves and feelings of self-worth. We all had similar experiences of struggling with mental health during our teenage years, especially with body image, and we wanted to reflect on those experiences while also hoping that viewers would feel understood if they were facing similar challenges. A lot of the examples in the short video are based on real experiences and we felt that although some were very specific, for example being a competitive swimmer, it could still resonate with a lot of people, like other athletes. We chose to keep the character’s appearances ambiguous and not appear specific to any one gender identity because body image concerns and struggles are so widespread.”

Image Credits:
Feature Image: Hanna Xu, On Unsplash, Creative Commons