Robyn McGee: Women’s Resource Center Director and Students Discuss Women’s Body Image on BET’s “Meet the Faith”

Robyn McGee, director of the Women’s Resource Center at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) will be featured on Black Entertainment Television’s (BET’s) “Meet the Faith” airing Sunday, Nov. 18, at 12 p.m. ET/PT.

Hosted by Ian Smith, a contributing editor for Men’s Health magazine and medical contributor on ABC’s “The View,” “Meet the Faith” addresses a wide range of current topics pertinent to African Americans. The Nov. 18 episode, titled “Forgive or Die,” will discuss health issues in the black community. The segment with McGee focuses on body image perceptions among African American women, a subject she has written and lectured on extensively for many years.

In 2005, McGee wrote Hungry For More: A Keeping-It-Real Guide for Black Women on Weight and Body Image, about her sister Cathy’s life-long battle with weight, how gastric bypass surgery contributed to Cathy’s death, and the social and cultural influences that determine how black women view themselves. The book also offers healthful lifestyle choices to both improve a woman’s self-esteem and maintain a healthy weight.

For “Meet the Faith,” McGee, former CSUDH health educator La’ini Roberts, alumna Shanice Harris, internship coordinator Carolyn Harris, and students Ashli Logan, Kristin Huling and Candace Mitchell were interviewed by segment producer Traci Curry. They engaged in a frank discussion about what society sees as the ideal black woman, the role media plays in developing those perceptions, how media perpetuates the image of the black woman as a purely sexual being, and the internal and external pressures to conform to those models.

“I’m very pleased about it,” McGee said of the upcoming show. “I was a bit conflicted because BET portrays some of the same negative images of women we were talking about. But maybe what we say will offer some balance. The women featured are all well educated, beautiful and confident, and of all shapes and sizes.”

Producer Curry spent a full day in May with McGee and the panel of university women for the segment. It was filmed at various locations around campus.

For more information on “Meet the Faith,” visit www.bet.com/OnTV/BETShows/meetfaith.
For information on Robyn McGee, visit www.robynwrites.com.

- Amy Bentley-Smith