Who gets to define the body?
From discipline and ageing to the internalised gaze, this issue follows the forces that watch, name and reclaim the body.

In this issue
30 items
Books6

Books · Jan 1990
The Beauty Myth
Naomi WolfExposes how beauty standards have become a new tool for controlling women, analyzing the impact of consumer culture on women's bodies and psyche.
02
Books · May 2023
Naked Feminism: Breaking the Cult of Female Modesty
Victoria BatemanA radical work by Cambridge economist Victoria Bateman, who has appeared naked on TV, stage, art and protests, using body and brain to deliver her message. Questions: Despite feminism's promises, why do women's bodies remain at mercy of state, society and religion? Are sexy and smart mutually exclusive? Traces bodily modesty pendulum from ancient Egypt to present, calling feminists to unite against female body repression.
03
Books · Mar 2023
The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism and Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy and Build Collective Freedom
Chrissy KingA groundbreaking work from strength coach and social justice educator Chrissy King that blends memoir, inspiration, and practical exercises. The book reveals how diet culture and the fitness industry are rooted in white supremacy and Eurocentric beauty standards, moving beyond body positivity to something more revolutionary: body liberation, recognizing that none of us are free until all of us are.
04
Books · Mar 2023
Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women
Victoria SmithA sharp work by feminist writer Glosswitch exploring why women in their forties and beyond seem to enrage almost everyone. In an era of identity politics, middle-aged women are portrayed as bigoted, entitled, and morally inferior. Smith traces history to reveal why this specific form of misogyny is so rampant today. Shortlisted for the 2023 Nero Book Awards.
05
Books · Feb 2024
All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us about Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today
Elizabeth ComenMemorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen unveils the collective medical history of women, exploring how medicine has long misunderstood women's bodies and how these historical oversights continue to affect women's health today.
06
Books · Apr 2022
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves
Laura Erickson-SchrothThis community resource collects trans-authored and trans-centered guidance on health, law, culture, history, family, sexuality, and life course issues.
Films6

Films · Sep 2024
The Substance
Coralie FargeatA body horror film directed by Coralie Fargeat, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Following washed-up actress Elisabeth who, after being fired due to ageism, uses a mysterious drug to create a younger, perfect version of herself. Through extreme body horror aesthetics, the film deeply explores crucial issues including ageism, beauty standards, body politics, female self-hatred, and patriarchal control over women's bodies, becoming a representative work of contemporary feminist horror cinema.
02
Films · Apr 1962
Cléo from 5 to 7
Cléo de 5 à 7Agnès VardaAgnès Varda's 1962 masterpiece uses real-time filming to depict the psychological journey of a young singer awaiting cancer diagnosis results over two hours, standing as a landmark of both French New Wave and feminist cinema.
03
Films · Oct 2002
Real Women Have Curves
Patricia Cardoso18-year-old Mexican-American Ana García struggles between her college dreams and traditional family expectations. This groundbreaking independent film explores themes of body autonomy, cultural identity, class mobility, and intergenerational conflict through a Latina lens, becoming a milestone in the body positivity movement and Latina feminist cinema.
04
Films · Sep 2021
Happening
L'ÉvénementAudrey DiwanAdapted from Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux's autobiographical novel, following a 23-year-old French university student's desperate and dangerous journey seeking abortion in 1960s France when it was illegal. Directed by Audrey Diwan, this award-winning film deeply explores reproductive autonomy, body politics, class inequality, and women's predicament in patriarchal society, becoming a powerful testimony to contemporary women's rights struggles.
05
Films · Sep 2023
Poor Things
Yorgos LanthimosA surrealist fantasy drama directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone. Adapted from Alasdair Gray's novel, it follows the extraordinary evolution journey of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life through brain transplantation in Victorian times. The film explores profound themes of female sexual autonomy, body politics, social liberation, and personal awakening through richly imaginative visual language, becoming a significant representative work of contemporary feminist cinema.
06
Films · Apr 2023
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Kelly Fremon CraigAdapted from Judy Blume's groundbreaking 1970 novel, follows 11-year-old Margaret Simon as she navigates puberty's physical changes, religious exploration, and identity formation. This warm and honest coming-of-age film explores female adolescent experiences, mother-daughter relationships, religious freedom, and the universality of women's intergenerational experiences through a delicate perspective.
Articles5
Articles · Aug 2011
Moving Toward the Ugly
Mia MingusMingus writes from disability justice to critique how beauty, normality, and desirability organize bodily value, proposing a liberatory politics of moving toward the ugly.
02Articles · Aug 2017
Forced Intimacy: An Ableist Norm
Mia MingusMingus names the structural experience of disabled people being forced to disclose bodies, needs, medical histories, and vulnerability in order to access basic survival.
03Articles · Feb 2011
Changing the Framework: Disability Justice
Mia MingusMia Mingus explains why social justice movements must move from treating disability as an individual problem or single-issue rights concern toward understanding it as political experience, community history, and a framework for collective liberation.
04Articles · Nov 2024
Reproductive Rights in the Digital Surveillance Era: When Technology Becomes a Tool of Oppression
Electronic Frontier Foundation & Privacy InternationalIn the post-Roe era, digital privacy has suddenly become a matter of life and death for abortion seekers. Period tracking apps, search histories, and location data can all become evidence for prosecution. This article analyzes how digital surveillance threatens reproductive freedom and how women can protect their digital privacy.
05Articles · Mar 2024
The US War on Reproductive Rights Should Concern Women Everywhere
Mariam KhanIn the United States, women's reproductive rights are rapidly being eroded. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, nearly 30 states have restricted abortion access. This war on bodily autonomy threatens not just America, but women's rights globally.
Videos4

Videos · Sep 2023
stop denying women their autonomy
oliSUNviaIn this video essay, oliSUNvia critiques the cultural backlash against 'choice feminism' and the rise of stay-at-home girlfriend discourse. She argues that autonomy must include the right to make non-normative or traditionally feminine choices without being dismissed as brainwashed or anti-feminist. Through nuanced commentary and community responses, the video explores the tension between agency, internalized norms, and feminist respect for individual paths.
02
Videos · Sep 2019
Woman: Global Women's Voices and Resilience
Yann Arthus-Bertrand & Anastasia Mikova'Woman' is a global documentary featuring interviews with 2,000 women from 50 countries, presenting their authentic experiences on topics including motherhood, education, marriage, economic independence, menstruation, and sexuality. The film not only reveals the injustices faced by women worldwide but also emphasizes their inner strength and ability to change the world.
03
Videos · Apr 2014
I'm Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much
Stella YoungIn this TEDxSydney talk, Stella Young critiques inspiration porn and the way nondisabled society consumes disabled people as objects of moral uplift.
04
Videos · Jan 2014
I Got 99 Problems... Palsy Is Just One
Maysoon ZayidMaysoon Zayid uses comedy to show how Palestinian, Muslim, female, and disabled identities intersect while challenging ableism in entertainment and public culture.
Podcasts4

Podcasts · Mar 2019
Decolonizing Sex
Matika Wilbur, Adrienne Keene, Kim TallBearThis All My Relations episode with Kim TallBear discusses critical polyamory, Indigenous relational ethics, feminism, and settler marriage, making it a key audio resource on how sex, intimacy, and family are structured by colonial power.
02
Podcasts · Sep 2025
The Fat Feminist Witch
Paige VanderbeckThe Fat Feminist Witch is a feminist spiritual podcast hosted by Paige Vanderbeck, centered on fat advocacy, witch practice, and cultural critique, exploring the intersection of body politics and modern witchcraft. With a humorous, frank, and critical style, the content covers witchcraft history, feminist magic, religious critique, and cannabis culture.
03
Podcasts · Sep 2025
Feminist Wellness
Victoria AlbinaFeminist Wellness is a podcast hosted by nervous system specialist and life coach Victoria Albina, dedicated to helping women break free from emotional outsourcing, build self-worth, and establish authentic self-care. The show blends feminist psychology, holistic medicine, and neuroscience, exploring how to break people-pleasing patterns, functional freeze, and other adaptive patterns. Victoria provides practical body exercises and cognitive frameworks to help listeners rebuild connections with themselves. The podcast style is warm yet sharp, suitable for women audiences seeking psychological growth and emotional recovery.
04
Podcasts · Sep 2025
Masala Podcast: The South Asian feminist podcast
Sangeeta Pillai / Soul SutrasMasala Podcast is hosted by Sangeeta Pillai, an award-winning South Asian feminist podcast focusing on sex, body, mental health, and cultural taboos. The show features intimate narrative and critical reflection, exploring themes of shame, sexual harassment, menopause, belonging, and motherhood pressure, emphasizing diverse experiences of South Asian women and intersectional feminist perspectives.
Papers5
Papers · Oct 1975
Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
Laura MulveyIn this seminal essay, Laura Mulvey introduces psychoanalytic theory to film criticism, coining the concept of the 'Male Gaze' to reveal how classical Hollywood cinema constructs images of women around male visual pleasure.
02Papers · Jan 1980
Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment Motility and Spatiality
Iris Marion YoungThis groundbreaking 1980 essay analyzes the particularity of feminine bodily experience through a phenomenological lens. Young combines Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body with de Beauvoir's existentialist feminism to explore how patriarchal society shapes women's bodily comportment, movement patterns, and spatial perception, revealing how gendered bodily experience limits women's agency and self-realization.
03Papers · Jan 2005
Feminist Disability Studies
Rosemarie Garland-ThomsonGarland-Thomson maps feminist disability studies as a field, showing how disability reshapes feminist questions about bodies, staring, normalcy, dependency, and public life.
04Papers · Jul 2017
Reproductive Justice as Intersectional Feminist Activism
Loretta J. RossLoretta J. Ross situates reproductive justice in women of color organizing, showing how it connects bodily autonomy, parenting, community safety, human rights, and structural inequality.
05Papers · Jun 1989
Toward a Feminist Theory of Disability
Susan WendellWendell's classic article places disability inside feminist philosophy and medical ethics, critiquing how medical authority, bodily norms, and social environments produce disabled experience.