What I Hope Readers Take Away

Central to my work is the belief that body image sits within the broader experience of embodiment—the experience of living in and through a body. Because our embodied lives are complex, body image is far from a simple ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ binary. It’s multifaceted and shaped by the particular people, places, and periods in which it’s experienced.

This belief grew out of my PhD research, which explored how social media interacts with people’s existing beliefs, experiences, relationships and circumstances to shape how they experience their bodies.

Since then, my thinking has broadened beyond body image alone. I’m interested in the wider experience of living in and through a body, and in how media, culture and everyday life shape the ways we understand and relate to it.

I have a particular interest in appearance and the way contemporary life can make it especially dominant in how we experience our bodies. Appearance matters, and for many people it matters deeply. But I’m interested in what can get crowded out when appearance becomes the main way we understand the body.

Thinking about body image within the wider experience of embodiment helps open that up. It makes room for other ways bodies can matter: through what they can do, how they feel, how they move, how they change, how they connect us with other people, and what they allow us to experience and participate in.

For me, the goal is not to make appearance less legitimate. It’s to understand it in relation to a much wider bodily life.

Through this blog, I aim to:

Build Understanding

Help readers recognise the many influences that shape how people experience their bodies and body image.

Encourage Critical Thinking

Challenge simplistic explanations by asking better questions about the relationship between the body, media, and society.

Broaden Perspectives

Draw together diverse perspectives to offer a richer understanding of what it means to have, experience, and live in a body.

Looking Forward  

My hope is that this work encourages a more thoughtful conversation about the body and body image—one that recognises their complexity without reducing it to simple explanations or easy answers.

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This article does not constitute personalised advice or professional consultation. For personalised assistance, please consult with a relevant professional. The opinions expressed are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect any organisation’s or individual’s views.