[3] Widdows argues that to address the harms caused by the beauty ideal, we must first understand its ethical nature.
She completed her PhD thesis in 1999 on "The relationship of morality and religion : an investigation of the issue in modern anglophone philosophy".
She became part of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham as a research fellow in the Centre for the Study of Global Ethics in 2001.
In Perfect Me Widdows argues that beauty is functioning as ethical ideal, transforming our understandings of the world, our judgements of others and ourselves.
The briefing paper contains key findings of the network in ethics, psychology and law, and makes policy recommendations based upon these.
[19] Widdows launched a social media campaign to end body shaming at the Annual Global Ethics Conference at the University of Birmingham in June 2019.
[21] The campaign asks people to share their lookism stories on social media using the hashtag or anonymously via the website.
In addition to her books, Widdows has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and chapters in edited collections.