Oppression and the Body

Roots, Resistance, and Resolutions

By: Christine Caldwell, Lucia Bennett Leighton

Narrated by: Julie Slater

A timely anthology that explores power, privilege, and oppression and their relationship to marginalized bodies

Asserting that the body is the main site of oppression in Western society, the contributors to this pioneering volume explore the complex issue of embodiment and how it relates to social inclusion and marginalization. In a culture where bodies of people who are brown, black, female, transgender, disabled, fat, or queer are often shamed, sexualized, ignored, and oppressed, what does it mean to live in a marginalized body? Through theory, personal narrative, and artistic expression, this anthology explores how power, privilege, oppression, and attempted disembodiment play out on the bodies of disparaged individuals and what happens when the body’s expression is stereotyped and stunted. Bringing together a range of voices, this book offers strategies and practices for embodiment and activism and considers what it means to be an embodied ally to anyone experiencing bodily oppression.

Critic reviews

“A must-read for anyone looking to critically explore how innumerable oppressions and indignities take root within our very bodies, and transform the ways in which we move through the world.”
—Shanna K. Kattari, power/privilege/oppression scholar, University of Michigan School of Social Work

“As the status quo for power, control, and authority begins to break open in major sectors of white, male-dominant culture, Oppression and the Body reminds us that our bodies are the focal place to recognize the seeds of oppression, exclusivity, inclusivity, and liberation that we all harbor.”
—Amber Elizabeth L. Gray, LPCC, BC-DMT, director of Restorative Resources Training & Consulting and The Untamed Body Moving Therapies

“With courage and candor, the voices of this volume thoughtfully tackle how oppression in a variety of forms affects our bodies. Chapter by chapter, the topic comes to life, resulting in a vivid and thought-provoking experience for the reader.”
—Pat Ogden, PhD, founder/educational director of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, Boulder, Colorado

“With a finely tuned lens on the systems of oppression that traumatize bodies, and validation of worth beyond narrow standards of acceptability, Oppression and the Body is a groundbreaking voice in an intersectional somatic justice movement.”
—Willy Wilkinson, MPH, author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency