Introduction

Strength, Stamina, and Structural Violence in the Social Sciences

“…For example, Black and Brown scholars cope with racial trauma stemming from individual, institutional, and structural racism (Hamer & Lang, 2015) and are consequently more likely to suffer from mental and physical health problems (e.g., Brody et al, 2014). Similarly, given the historic policing of Black and Brown bodies and the criminalization of motherhood, particularly among the poor, racialized and classed experiences of assisted reproduction, pregnancy, delivery, and recovery necessitate greater strength and stamina and inflict greater harm (e.g., Barnes & Fledderjohann, 2020; Davis, 2020; McMillan Cottom, 2018). These scholars are also less likely to have been steeped in the habits, skills, and dispositions that comprise the “hidden curriculum” of the academy, taxing their very existence within the profession (Margolis & Romero, 1998) and they—along with women and queer faculty—are disproportionately saddled with “invisible” academic work (Social Sciences Feminist Network Research Interest Group, 2017).…”

“…The data for this project comes from my own experiences and observations as an academic social scientist, and thus contributes to a growing tradition of reflective essays in the social sciences (e.g., Hochschild, 2011; McMillan Cottom, 2018; Pierce, 2003). The initial experiences and observations on which I draw were captured in my personal journal and were not intended for research purposes.…”

Textbook typologies: Challenging the myth of the perfect obstetric pelvis

“…According to Cooper Owens ( 2018 , p. 110), citing Breeden ( 1980 ), “Eighteenth‐century anthropologists and anatomists formed these type of ideologies because they believed that ‘African women's alleged extraordinary ease in parturition seemed to indicate pelvises more capacious than European women's… (this was also assumed to be true of apes and other quadrupeds)’.” The racist underpinnings of the Caldwell–Moloy classification system contribute to false ideas about sex and population variation that are not supported by evidence. Caldwell and Moloy's typology, but not their data, suggested that transversely wide pelvic inlets are more common in White females, an idea that fueled the persistent assumption that childbirth was easier and less painful for Black women (Cooper Owens, 2018 ; McMillan Cottom, 2019 ). Further, by linking Black women to a more animalistic form, they are distanced from an ideal “feminine” form ascribed to Whiteness (A. W. Davis et al, 2018 ; Deliovsky, 2008 ).…”

“It’s All About the Look”: Making Sense of Appearance, Attractiveness, and Authenticity Online

“…Mainstream media content, including advertisements and editorial images of fashion, tends to reinforce a narrow set of ideals surrounding beauty and appearance (Baumann, 2008; Hunter, 2005; Mears, 2010, 2011; Wolf, 1991). A slender or fit physique, a pore-less facial complexion, and Whiteness or light skin are often privileged in press pages and across campaign images reinforcing the importance of these features as markers of beauty (Baumann, 2008; Hunter, 2005; Laan & Kuipers, 2016; McMillan Cottom, 2019; Mears, 2010). All the while, women of color, women who are fuller-figured, and older women are rendered invisible (Baumann & de Laat, 2012; Craig, 2002; Hamilton et al, 2019).…”