LAURA JANE KENNY | staff writer

A recent study recognized that young girls admitted that they would rather have cancer, lose both of their parents or survive a nuclear holocaust than be fat. This is just one of the many statistics found on the More to Me website.

“More to Me” is part of experienceproject.com, a website dedicated to letting people reach out and communicate with others who are going through similar circumstances. “More to Me” is the part of the website dedicated to the dialogue of eating disorders. The website leans toward women and their body image. It wants to explore the identity of women, not only intelligence or looks, but everything put together.

“It’s about [the idea that] there’s more to me than my body. There are all these other things about me that collectively make my identity and who I am,” the program’s manager Sarah Silverman said.

Experienceproject.com created the first online petition to create awareness and cause support for in-school curriculums that focus on a healthy body image. Visitors have the ability to sign their names to a declaration that expresses a commitment to helping girls find the strength and beauty they have inside. Experienceproject.com hopes to have the declaration signed by 10,000 people.

Presidential candidates, state senators, congressional committee members, educational policy makers, political advocacy groups, and editors of teen magazine will see the declaration. The petition is not to raise money, but to turn the heads of policy makers to create the use of federal or state money to help with this issue.

Silverman realized that women on the website wanted to talk about body image. The website, experienceproject.com, has also focused on cancer, animal rights and other things that website operators felt needed public attention and discussion.

“Girls who are going through eating disorders can say what is really happening and what is going on in their head. They can connect with other people and realize they are not alone in their journey,” Silverman said.

Anyone can comment on the website anonymously. Silverman pointed out that this is important because eating disorders cause situations that isolate people.

“I think it is genius because some women don’t have people to talk to about this stuff,” freshman biology major Rakan Alzwaideh. “If they just get it out it helps them relax, it helps them emotionally, it helps them take it one step at a time.”