Alexandra Stuhlmann
PhD research Food Sociology
Alexandra Stuhlmann is a doctoral candidate at the Chair of Food Sociology at Justus Liebig University Giessen, affiliated with the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) and a doctoral scholarship holder of the German Economy Foundation (sdw). She previously studied ecotrophology (B.Sc. and M.Sc.) at JLU Giessen and wrote her master's thesis at the Institute for Sociology and Social Science Research at the Università di Trento.
PhD project
Her PhD project, Unpacking Notions of Normativity: The Protein Hype and the Construction of Femininity, examines how ideals of femininity emerge and transform in the context of the current cultural valorization of protein consumption (“protein hype”). From a praxeological perspective, eating is approached as a body-shaping practice that becomes connected to socially powerful body ideals through normativity. Empirically, the dissertation combines an algorithmic ethnography of TikTok videos on female protein consumption with experimental focus groups and interviews. It explores the mundane processes through which normative ideals of femininity arise and circulate on social media, how women performatively negotiate normative expectations in everyday interactions and embodied activity chains, and what tensions emerge between digital normativity and everyday consumption practices. Building on these insights, the dissertation develops a conceptual framework that makes different degrees and forms of normativity analytically tangible and shows how these are produced and stabilized across social media and everyday life. In doing so, the project uses a contemporary eating trend to bridge the sociology of consumption with ongoing debates on embodiment.
Vita
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seit 01/2025
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PhD candidate in Food Sociology
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seit 09/2022 |
Ernährungsberaterin für präventive und Therapeutische Ernährungsberatungen in Teilzeit („Essen mit Lust“, Heuchelheim) |
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10/2021-04/2025 |
Stundent Assistant Food Sociology |
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2021-2024 |
Masterstudium Ökotrophologie an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen - 10/2023-02/2024: Predoc am International Graduate Center for the Study of Culture (GCSC) - 02/2024-08/2024: Forschungsaufenthalt am Institut für Soziologie und Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung der Università di Trento |
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2017-2021 |
Bachelorstudium Ökotrophologie an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen |
Research interest
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Food Sociology
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Sociology of the body
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Gender studies
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Praxeological perspectives on normativity and embodiment
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Food trends on social media
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Qualitative social research
Conference contributions
Stuhlmann, A. (2025). Normativity in knowledge regimes: Understanding the construction of ideal bodies and consumption practices. RN05 Midterm Conference “Uncharted Territories in the Sociology of Consumption”, Prague, 27–29 August 2025.
Stuhlmann, A. (2025). The protein hype as a transformative excess: Exploring bodily positioning in relation to female protein consumption. Summer School “The Age of Excess”, Lisbon, 30 June – 5 July 2025.
Stuhlmann, A. (2025). Creating normative femininity on TikTok: Exploring bodily positioning in relation to female protein consumption. Bridg’it Workshop, Paris, 26–28 May 2025.
Publications
Stuhlmann, A. (in press). Die Dimension Geschlecht in der Ernährungsberatung. In J. Yildiz & J. Godemann (Hrsg.), Handbuch Ernährungsberatung. Springer.
Stuhlmann, A. & Wahlen, S. (under review). Creating normative femininity on TikTok: Exploring bodily positioning in relation to female protein consumption. Body & Society.
Wahlen, S., Sassatelli, R., Holm, L., Eisewicht, P., Cossu, A., Stuhlmann, A. & Spierings, B. (in preparation). Embodiment as an uncharted territory of consumption: A roundtable. Consumption and Society.