ABSTRACT
The body stories underscore the significance of the body as a source and site of social injustice, and provide new insight into the embodied lived experience of oppression. In particular, the narratives illustrate how oppressive interpersonal relations affect nonverbal communication patterns, disrupt healthy boundaries, elicit traumatic reactions, and engender shame. This chapter explains the somatic experiences of oppression detailed in the narratives and link them to other research findings, anti-oppression theories, and social justice commentaries. There is a growing body of literature linking oppression and trauma, and researchers have begun to recognize microaggressions against marginalized people as a form of trauma. As Henley and Freeman suggest in their work on the nonverbal dimensions of gender oppression, many of the communication patterns involve asymmetrical interaction or unequal access to certain behaviors. All of the participants spoke about the role of the body in navigating interpersonal boundaries, and the ways in which their experiences of oppression affect those navigations.
