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Reflections of an Educator on the Impact of the Outdoors on Body Positivity

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The Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Outdoor Learning

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education ((GED))

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Abstract

I reflect on my personal narrative of what inspired, motivated, and informed my way of being and thinking concerning body positivity. This chapter begins in the 1980s when I was a pre-teen girl, considers the early 2000s when I was an instructor on expeditions with girls, and ends in 2016 as an educator of young people and as a mother to daughters. I explore broadly the significant research on the positive outcomes of the outdoors on body positivity in young women, and I allude to my continuing research in the field. I also make reference to the role of social media and popular culture, as both are crucial determinants in the social construction of what it means to be a girl/woman in Western society.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All names are pseudonyms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Educational Research, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Joelle Breault-Hood

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  1. Joelle Breault-Hood
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia

    Tonia Gray

  2. Prescott College, Prescott, AZ, USA

    Denise Mitten

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Breault-Hood, J. (2018). Reflections of an Educator on the Impact of the Outdoors on Body Positivity. In: Gray, T., Mitten, D. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Outdoor Learning. Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53550-0_37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53550-0_37

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-53550-0

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