Body and Chronic Illness Martha Grover is an author, poet, artist and writing coach living in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of One More for the People (Perfect Day Publishing) and The End of My Career (Perfect Day Publishing). The End of My Career was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards in creative nonfiction in 2017.Martha is currently at work on a book of prose poems and essays about Catastrophe, Myth,and being a sick person in the 21st century. When she is not writing, Martha is making zines, coaching her writing clients, making art,and selling Real Estate. Today we talk about her experience with Cushing’s syndrome and Addison’s disease and what it’s like to live in a body that is chronically ill. “Some people with disabilities use a spoon to hide, to pass as able-bodied, that requires energy, to hide your disability when you aren’t in a safe space. “ - Martha Grover This Week on the Every Body Podcast: How Martha discovered her acute illness The social and personal...
Shilo George is Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho and Scottish international speaker, trainer, and owner of Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting, which means “a great awakening of the heart and spirit” in the Chinuk Wawa trade language.She has lived her life in a body that transgresses and violates Western standards of beauty, size, sexuality, and health. Shilo interweaves cultural traditions and spirituality with an anti-oppressive and decolonizing lenses to promote healing and empowerment in herself and others in the communities she is a part of. Her workshops and presentations explore the intersections of race, sexuality, body size, and trauma (both individual and inter-generational). Shilo trains others on systems of oppression, trauma informed care, and proactive ways that businesses and organizations can create policies and environments that that promote diversity, equity, and healing. Shilo received her Bachelor of Science in Art Practices in 2012 and a Masters of Science in Educational ...
Aaron Flores is a registered dietitian nutritionist based out of Los Angeles, California.With nearly 10 years of experience, Aaron has worked with eating disorders in a varietyof settings. A large part of his career was spent working at the VA Greater Los AngelesHealthcare System where he helped develop and launch one of the first Binge Eating Disorder programs to help Veterans struggling with this disorder. Since leaving the VA,Aaron has continued to work in the eating disorder community helping run groups andproviding individual counseling to adolescents and adults. He currently works part-timeat Center for Discovery and part-time in hisprivate practicein Calabasas, CA. He is aCertified Body Trust provider, and his main areas of focus are Intuitive Eating andHealth at Every Size. In his work, Aaron helps individuals learn how to make peacewith food and develop body-positive behaviors. His work has been featured duringWeight Stigma Awareness Week, in blogs for the National Eating D...
Sarah Vance (@sarevance) began focusing on the body when she began walking in her parents' footsteps by competitively body-building. After spiraling with restriction, disordered eating and body dysmorphia, she decided she needed to realign her relationship with her body. She created #effyourfitspo and challenges ideas of "health" and "strength" that are simply diet culture with a new name. Now, as a health care professional, she keeps a vigilant eye out for fat-phobia in the health care industry. We covered a lot of ground, but there's always room to share more and ask more. Take a listen and join the conversation with us on instagram! "[Body positivity is] becoming more problematic because now fitspo culture and diet companies and diet culture are now co-opting body positivity... then you have a system in a culture that has now utilized something that was in the first place-- body positivity-- that was actually trying to dismantle the system that is now using it." - Sarah Vance Thi...
Kai was first cast into the spotlight through her participation in, and subsequent denunciation of the weight loss game show The Biggest Loser. Going through the program, she realized the negative impact the show had, not only on her own life, but on society in general. Vowing to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, Kai has fought, often as the lone voice, against unrealistic and damaging message in the media regarding our bodies in general. Over time that struggle has been featured in countless magazines and newscasts, both domestically and internationally, ranging from The Huffington Post, Time Magazine, Good Morning America, ABC News, CBS News, E!, Star Magazine, US Weekly, People, TMZ, The NY Times, The NY Post, Inside Edition, Redbook, Access Hollywood, FoxNews,The Globe, Jezebel, Huffington Post Live and Upworthy, where Kai’s honest, straight forward approach to her own story never fails to shine through. Most of Kai’s time is spent juggling family and pr...
Dr. Natalie Boero is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at San Jose State University. She joins Every Body this week to discuss the ways our society pigeon holes obesity as a personal problem for the individual rather than examining the wider socioeconomic scope (access to good health care, food deserts, safe places to play and be active) and its effects on public health. Dr. Boero discusses how she began in the field with her first book,Killer Fat: Media, Medicine and Morals in the American Obesity Epidemic.Sheexplains the problem with medicalizing non-medical instances such as weight or violence with words like "epidemic" which cause panic and risky preventative measures. It was such a pleasure to hear Dr. Boero's thoughts and research on everything from obesity myths to the privilege of "the good fatty." Take a listen and join us in the conversation with us! "My being the 'good fatty' probably has a lot to do with my class and race privilege in the sense that I...
Dr. Natalie Boero is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at San Jose State University. She joins Every Body this week to discuss the ways our society pigeon holes obesity as a personal problem for the individual rather than examining the wider socioeconomic scope (access to good health care, food deserts, safe places to play and be active) and its effects on public health. Dr. Boero discusses how she began in the field with her first book,Killer Fat: Media, Medicine and Morals in the American Obesity Epidemic.Sheexplains the problem with medicalizing non-medical instances such as weight or violence with words like "epidemic" which cause panic and risky preventative measures. It was such a pleasure to hear Dr. Boero's thoughts and research on everything from obesity myths to the privilege of "the good fatty." Take a listen and join us in the conversation with us! "My being the 'good fatty' probably has a lot to do with my class and race privilege in the sense that I...
Jes Baker (@themilitantbaker) has been a major figure in the fat-positive community for years beginning with her "Attractive and Fat" photo campaign as backlash against Abercrombie and Fitch's anti-fat advertising. Since then, her refreshingly authentic voice has garnered over 77 thousand followers on instagram as well as a wildly popular personal blog. Jes has built her foundation on the idea that #fatgirlsCAN and she continues to shatter society's expectations for fat people with equal parts outspoken advocacy and brazen visibility. I loved getting a chance to sit down with this inspirational woman to talk about complicated topics from "Lisa Frank bopo" to her relationship with movement. Take a listen and join the conversation with us on instagram! "Every single person right now is being targeted, when it comes to self-esteem and body image, women have historically been the targets of marketing and advertising selling these beauty and weight loss products." - Jes Baker This Week o...
Body in Culture Kimberly Dark is a writer, sociologist, and raconteur, working to reveal the hidden architecture of everyday life one clever essay, poem, and story at a time. She uses humor, surprise and intimacy to help audiences discover their influences, and reclaim their power as social creators. She teaches in the graduate program in Sociological Practice at Cal State San Marcos. Kimberly Dark has written award-winning plays, facilitated and performed for awiderange of audiences in various countries over the past two decades. Her essays appear in popular online publications such as Everyday Feminism and Ravishly.Her poetry and prose are available in various literaryand academic publications. Thestorytelling performances and interactive lecturesmake big, complex ideas relatableatcampuses, conferences, companies and anywhere people seek startling revelations and positive change.Beloved by diverse audiences, Kimberly crosses boundaries to show how we mustengage all the wisdom and ...
Big Gal Yoga with Valerie Sagun Valeria Sagun took her first crack at yoga in a college course back in 2011 and now challenges over 152,000 instagram followers to start looking at their bodies through a more positive lens. Valerie (@biggalyoga) joins us this week with friend and co-bopo pal Anna Chapman (@iamannachapman) to talk about how their vastly different backgrounds led them both to a place where they could celebrate their size and encourage others to do the same. Valerie's new book, Big Gal Yoga, dives deeper into her life's story as well as her her yoga tips and practices. The endearing dynamic between these two has got to be some of my favorite #relationshipgoals to date. Take a listen and join the discussion with us! "Finding that calmness within yoga that I hadn't had before; the simple movement, or just moving your body, can change your mental outlook on things." - Valerie Sagun This Week on the Every Body Podcast: A look at how Valerie Sagun (@BigGalYoga) and Anna Chap...