In our society, thin bodies are idealized and heavily normalized. This is significant, since not every beauty standard leaves everyone else feeling abnormal or unattractive. We uphold this norm of thinness in some major ways: by medicalizing body size, limiting accessibility in public spaces and emphasizing “health” and diet culture at every turn. We also…

As a person with primarily European ancestry, I am not often forced to confront the ways in which my perceived racial identity differs from what is socially acceptable. At first glance, I look like your average white bread: light skin, brown hair, brown eyes. Every so often, though, I get a question asked with the…

I have found myself in many a situation that goes something like this: the person I’m with starts talking about their new diet, or maybe commenting on someone’s weight loss, or some generally uncomfortable thing that I do not want to discuss with them. I desperately want to say something that will change their mind…

It often seems that an inescapable truth of being a college student—and perhaps, of being human—is that we need to be sure of where the day will take us. We segment our daily activities into blocks rounded to the nearest fifteen minutes. We leave ourselves barely enough time to breathe as we desperately try to…

Last week at work, I had an interaction with a customer that reminded me of why I have worked so hard to rid myself of food-related guilt. I’ll set the scene: I’m making sandwiches and contemplating the meaning of life, when in walks my new personal nightmare. She points out the cookies—those generic pre-made ones…

Take a look around most college campuses and you will notice the striking diversity in the ways students present themselves. Some are sporting tattoos, piercings or colored hair, and there is an infinite assortment of clothing styles. Yet when it comes time to interview for jobs, internships or grad school, we possess a collective understanding…