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Multipolarity and Multicrisis

On 1 December, a guest lecture was delivered by Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Distinguished Professor of Global Studies and Sociology. The lecture was organized by the Beauty and Inequality Research Team and addressed the current global condition marked by multiple, overlapping crises and shifting power relations. The lecture argued that today’s economic, political, and geopolitical crises […]

‘Decolonizing Bodies’ seminar series

Over the past weeks, the BINQ project has had the pleasure of hosting the online seminar series “Decolonizing Bodies: Conversations with Prof. Walter Mignolo.” Bringing together scholars from across the social sciences, the series opened a rich space for reflection on embodiment, aesthetics, and the power structures that shape them. Across three sessions—Embodied Novelty, Embodied […]

Beauty is no frivolous subject

By Wanying Zhou In 2024, Wanying Zhou took an interview with Sonar Magazine from KU Leuven to share her personal journey and academic reflections on beauty standards and social inequality. Drawing on her own experience of different beauty standards in Belgium and China, she argues that beauty is far more than a matter of personal […]

Report on the rise of cosmetic procedures in Brussels 

By Sanne Pieters Cosmetic procedures are on the rise in Brussels! Sanne was asked to look at the rise of cosmetic procedures in Brussels through a sociological lense.    From the article: “In this growing market, the fine balance between commerce and medicine remains, says Pieters. “Most doctors try their best to advise patients as honestly […]

Report on the rise of boutique fitness in Brussels

By Sanne Pieters   What does the rise of boutique fitness studios as a place for networking say about Brussels?   Sanne was featured in Politico Europe to give her insights on “sweatworking”, where people in Brussels visit high-end gyms for networking purposes.   From the article: “Sanne Pieters, a PhD researcher at KU Leuven investigating […]

Fieldwork experience

By Narges Pirhayati  Managing My Appearance in the Field During my fieldwork with cosmetic surgeons in Tehran/Iran, I realized that my appearance was not a peripheral matter. On the contrary, it became a critical part of my fieldwork toolkit —something I had to carefully manage to gain access to the highly exclusive and sensitive world […]

Movie Review – The Substance

  By Narges Pirhayati Beauty Standards and Identity in The Substance  The film The Substance explores an identity crisis related to the body. It shows the fear of aging and physical change and how a famous person struggles with growing older and losing her beauty, leading her to take extreme measures to regain her lost […]

Movie Review – The Substance  

By Emmanuel Narh    “Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself – younger, more beautiful, more perfect?”  This haunting question opens “The Substance”, setting the tone for a visceral critique of our obsession with beauty. It is a fitting entry point into a film that, while framed as horror, unfolds more as […]

‘The Neon Demon’ – Movie Review #1

By Carolina Rabasa Rucki ‘Sweety, plastics is just good grooming’ The Neon Demon (2016) directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Elle Fanning (Jesse) portrays the arrival of a wannabe model into the Los Angeles modeling scene. This psychological horror film takes us along Jesse’s brief journey from a naive teenager to an up-and-coming modelling […]

PhD researchers

All five PhD researchers are now doing their fieldwork. On this blog, they share their research impressions in short vignettes. Sanne Pieters discusses the Basic Fit backpack as a confusing status symbol in Brussels.             If George E. Marcus (1995) encourages us to follow the thing, I would like to follow a gray and orange […]