Abstract
Academia, like many other industries, polices its members through explicit and implicit systems of oppression: thinness, patriarchy, accessibility, and whiteness. Previous research has argued that professors who meet the criteria of current beauty standards (e.g., thinness, attractiveness) experience higher student evaluations, more opportunities for promotion, and better overall academic success than those in diverse body shapes and sizes. As a result, decoupling one's sense of self-worth from these expectations based in power can prove challenging. The present critical reflection and commentary explores the perceptions of two academics with histories of eating disorders (e.g., anorexia and binge-eating disorder), disordered eating, and body dysmorphia, on the idea of achieving body neutrality in academia.
Recommended Citation
McDermott, Victoria and Jacob, Nike
(2025)
"To eat or not to eat: Body neutrality in the context of educator eating disorders,"
Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 5:
Iss.
4, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol5/iss4/6
