Christine Bryant-Ryback
Standing Desks and Free Pizza: Body Image Negotiations in Tech Spaces
Tech is notoriously bad at talking about intersections of class, disability, race, gender–health, weight, and embodiment are equally nuanced subjects all on their own. What happens when a self-consciously desk-oriented culture tries to over-correct? What happens when people tire of beer and pizza that no longer feels optional, and "clean eating" is the cleanest way out? What happens to those who are already hyper-aware that their bodies are battlegrounds? How do we find some socially-acceptable balance in these interwoven networks of expectation and self-care?
This talk will explore the complex landscape of body image negotiation in tech-specific cultural spaces, and hopefully offer a couple of tools to enable a baseline level of body-positive communication with tech co-workers.