"Eating disorders are a much more prominent problem with women," she said. "This isn't supposed to be free food for everyone because it is not about everybody eating. It is about women eating without shame. Making the event women-only formalizes this idea."

Von Kohorn said organizers recognize that eating disorders affect men as well as women, but felt the Eat-In would be more effective if it were limited to women only.

"The women who decided to make this women-only were the Take Back the Night representatives from RADWAC and ECHO," she said. "It is much more radical for women to be able to eat with- out shame than for men, which is not tobelittle the problems of men who do suffer fromeating concerns."

Bagneris said men were not entirely excludedfrom the event. "I told my guy friends they couldcome if they came in drag," she said.

While women shared the communal ice cream,doughnuts, cookies, potato chips and soda, othersraised concerns over the choice of fooddistributed at the Eat-In.

"What they are doing is negative," said SteveW. Chung '01. "Eating right isn't a fashionstatement--it's a health-related issue. If thepoint of this Eat-In is to have women not careabout eating and worrying about food, then theirultimate end should be health-consciousness."

"This is just another extreme: the waif lookvs. eating junk food in public," Casey J. Noel '01said.

Yet, participants said they were not promotingan unhealthy lifestyle.

"This Eat-In would not be making much of astatement if the women were eating carrot sticks,"Bagneris said. "If women want potato chips, theyshould be able to have them and not feel guilty."

The issue of eating disorders affects almostall women, and "even women without a problem feelguilty about eating a fatty snack," said SheilaWarren '98.

Some questioned the approach of the Eat-In,because they weren't sure it attracted theintended crowd.

"It doesn't attract the right people," said AmyL. Beck '00. "The women here are alreadycomfortable with eating in front of other people."

Beck acknowledged, however, that the eventfulfilled some of its goals. "The goal was aboutawareness, to get people really thinking aboutthese issues," she said