Renee Engeln

Dr. Renee Engeln has been a professor for fifteen years at Northwestern University, where she teaches about psychopathology, the psychology of women and gender, social psychology, and the psychology of human beauty. She is an award-winning professor, having amassed over a dozen teaching awards at both Loyola University and Northwestern University. Engeln’s book "Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women" (Harper) was released in 2017. In Beauty Sick, Engeln, whose TEDx talk on beauty sickness has received more than 700,000 views, reveals the shocking consequences of girls’ obsession with appearance on their emotional and physical health and their wallets and ambitions, including depression, eating disorders, disruptions in cognitive processing, and lost money and time. Combining scientific studies with the voices of real young women, she makes clear that to truly fulfill their potential, women must break free from these destructive desires, attitudes, and words—from fat-shaming to denigrating commentary. She provides inspiration and workable solutions to help women overcome negative attitudes and embrace their whole selves, to transform their lives, claim the futures they deserve, and, ultimately, change their world. In addition to publishing numerous empirical journal articles and presenting at academic conferences on body image, media, and the objectification of women, Engeln presents talks on these topics to groups around the country. Engeln is regularly interviewed by media outlets, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Today.com, The Huffington Post, Think Progress, numerous local/regional newspapers, and college student publications.