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Obstacles, Transitions, & Perspectives: An In-Depth Look At The Spectacle Of Deviant Bodies, Taylor C. Manning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic study is an attempt to humanize the deviant behaviors and bodies of eating disordered and physically disabled persons in Western culture. The narratives included within are from the author’s own personal experiences as a heterosexual, eating disordered, disabled man. The narratives unfold chronologically in ways that explicate the transitions between identities and the onset and acceptance of each. The goal of this study is to unveil aspects of both eating disorders and disabilities as they relate to the locus of attention surrounding individuals that experience them. The researcher argues that the attention a deviant body draws from others …