Date of Award

2025-05-18

Degree Name

PhD Leadership Studies

Dissertation Committee

Leslie Boozer, EdD, JD, Committee Chair Nydia C. Sánchez, PhD, Committee Member Antonio Jiménez-Luque, PhD, Committee Member

Keywords

embodiment, leadership, identity, intersectionality, fat

Abstract

The experience of embodiment is a complex phenomenon that spans a range of feelings: a sense of connection to one's physical body, a sense of capability to accomplish certain physical acts, an attunement to self-care behaviors, a connection to desire, and inhabiting the body as a subjective site (Piran, 2016). This can be a complicated experience for leaders who hold multiple intersecting identities (Hill et al., 2016). As new medical therapies promise radical weight loss possibilities, the experience of embodiment has taken on a new layer of complexity (Giorgis, 2024). For fat leaders who are also women of color, sexual and gender minorities, and/or people with disabilities, navigating embodiment and leadership is even more complex (King, 2003).

Thus far, no empirical study has looked at the experience of embodiment of individuals who hold multiple, marginalized identities with fatness as the primary lens of identity. This study was informed by three research perspectives: stigma, embodiment, and critical pedagogies. Empirical studies within the fields of race, gender and embodiment in leadership developed the empirical work that grounded the research in these disciplines. Through a case study design, this qualitative study looked at the lived experience of ten executive leaders on the board of a fat advocacy organization to better understand how they experienced embodiment as they led.

Through interviews, document and artifact analysis and observation of social media, this investigation suggests that early fat body consciousness was a formative experience for future advocacy work, and critical consciousness led to a more embodied leadership experience. A researched approach to these critical issues is imperative for an inclusive future in leadership that embraces the full range of embodied identities. Policy implications of this study may include reduced stigma of marginalized groups and increased representation of the range of embodied identities in leadership positions.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Leadership Studies

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