Laurie Essig teaches at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont where she directs the program in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies. She has written for a variety of publications, including Salon, the Washington Post and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Essig’s blog, “Social Studies,” at Psychology Today is a sociological take on being human. She is the author of American Plastic: Boob Jobs, Credit Cards, and Our Quest for Perfection.