Perfect Me

Relationships

Heather Widdows Ph.D. on April 11, 2019

Naked Beach puts people of diverse sizes together and encourages them to get naked, to love their bodies and to ditch body shame. Is it the antidote to Love Island as claimed?

Beauty

Januhairy: Liberation Within Limits

Heather Widdows Ph.D. on January 31, 2019

What might Januhairy do, and not do, to liberate us from the rising demands of a dominant beauty ideal.

Beauty

My Body, My Self?

Heather Widdows Ph.D. on January 18, 2019

In a visual and virtual culture, it is not surprising that the body matters, and the body should matter. But it should not matter most.

Health

Improve Your Body, Improve Yourself?

Heather Widdows Ph.D. on January 4, 2019

In a visual and virtual culture, it’s inevitable that appearances matter. But should they matter most?

Beauty

Dying for the Perfect Butt

Heather Widdows Ph.D. on October 19, 2018

"No one is good enough without help." Understanding the demanding nature of the beauty ideal.

Beauty

Aspirational Bodies and the Pressures to be Perfect

Heather Widdows Ph.D. on October 2, 2018

What Love Island's popularity is teaching us about the prevalence of the Beauty Ideal, and why it is not something we can easily dismiss.

Beauty

A Duty to Be Beautiful?

Heather Widdows Ph.D. on July 13, 2018

Are beauty ideals so dominant and demanding that we feel a duty to be beautiful?