Let’s Get Physical! Getting Real About Body Inclusion

Bendita Cynthia Malakia, O’Melveny’s Director of Diversity and Engagement, and Morgan Reams, co-founder of BlackWomen&, co-authored the article “Let’s Get Physical! Getting Real About Body Inclusion” for the April 2024 edition of Modern Lawyer. 

“While explicit and implicit biases implicating gender, race/ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity are widely recognized as unacceptable in the legal profession, physicality bias is an explicit bias that is often deemed justified,” the authors write. “Like other areas of discrimination and bias, physicality bias – or lookism, pretty privilege, beauty bias, appearance discrimination – has a significant impact on the ability of individuals with atypical physicality to enter, experience belonging, and advance in the legal profession.”

Malakia and Reams outline several examples of how physicality bias permeates daily interactions. Further, they show how this form of bias harms those with atypical physicality—including through experiencing inordinate barriers to access and progress within the legal profession, and an impact on feelings of inclusion, belonging, and wellbeing, which impact retention and performance. Finally, the authors recommend actions and opportunities for individuals and organizations who want to expand their inclusivity capacity to include physicality.

Read the full article here.