The desire to change one's genetically endowed proportions and to actively conform to an ideal body type is a tremendous concern for both men and women on campus. According to Shauna L. Shames '01, who organized the eat-in, Harvard students are especially prone to eating disorders and obsession with dieting and exercise because of their perfectionist proclivities. Indeed, the eat-in, where hundreds of type-A control freaks treated themselves to an unrestrained feeding frenzy, was certainly a sight to behold.

TBTN's activities are not limited to aggressive attacks on the social sources of violence evidenced by silenced voices and grumbling stomachs.

During many of the activities, popular culture and its advertising engine ultimately emerged as the villainous culprits of the night. Striking against the Gap, L'Oreal, Gillete and other companies that play to female image insecurities in order to sell products, students met on Monday to create anti-advertising murals. Over 20 women defaced the super-thin, scantily clad models on the covers of Glamour and Cosmo, devising their own sardonic captions, such as "from the files of the incredible shrinking woman."

"Women are socialized from day one to value their looks," said one mural-maker. However, almost everyone agreed that the evil advertising monolith does not discriminate between male and female victims. Instead, it tricks consumers into thinking that you can package and commodify self-confidence. Advil can cure your headache as well as your loneliness. "No brainer." And Levi's Jeans alone can jumpstart a pathetic sex life.

So, who are we taking the night back from? On the one hand, Take Back the Night succeeds in its original mission, aggressively protesting sexual violence against women.

The reading of names of domestic violence survivors and the puffy-painted T-shirts hung out in the Yard served as shocking reminders of this pressing social problem at Harvard and definitely in the world beyond. In the time you have taken to read this column, 12 women will have been victims of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from husbands, boyfriends and lovers--every 15 seconds a woman in America becomes a victim of domestic violence, according to a panelist at a Tuesday night TBTN panel.

But, furthermore, TBTN has identified and raised awareness the more subtle sources of violence, endangering women and often men. The past week's events showed that these often hidden dangers are slowly creeping into the day.