I have a love/hate relationship with social media, especially Facebook.
I hate it because I spend too many waking hours scrolling mindlessly, but I LOVE it because I've discovered people who are doing incredible work in the body acceptance world. Social media has helped me transform my thinking about diet culture, body positivity, and social injustices (which are all related, btw).
So, if you spend as much time on social media as I do AND you want to go beyond the fluffy, superficial mainstream body positivity noise, here are some suggestions are folks who GO DEEP and explore the cultural and systemic issues around our bodies:
1. The Body is Not An Apology: Sonya Renee Taylor was the first person I heard use the term "body terrorism", which she uses to describe the fear of violence against our bodies in many forms, including racism and diet culture. TBINAA "believes that discrimination, social inequality, and injustice are manifestations of our inability to make peace with the body, our own and others".
YES to all of that.
Sonya advocates for radical self love as a way to liberate and empower ourselves and I'm all for it.
2. Nalgona Positivity Pride: Gloria Lucas is raising awareness about eating disorders in Latinx/Indigenous communities and decolonizing body positivity. She shines a bright light on how systemic oppression, historical trauma, and racism play a significant role in eating disorders. You can follow her work on Facebook and Instagram.
3. Ivy Felicia, The Body Relationship Coach: I know Ivy personally and I also LOVE her work. She runs an incredible Instagram page called Fat Women of Color, which showcases body types we don't usually see in mass media. Go check it out today and join the other 17K people who love to see fat women of color thriving and taking up space.
4. Decolonizing Fitness: Ilya Parker is a physical therapist and personal trainer who is challenging the traditional fitness paradigm.
Reading Ilya's words for the last year has opened my mind to how limited the mainstream body positivity, and even fat acceptance, movements can be. As a non-binary trans masculine person of color, he brings a voice and a perspective that is rarely heard.
**If you're a fitness or wellness professional and you're serious about running an inclusive business, I highly recommend grabbing a copy of Ilya's LGBTQIA Affirming Spaces e-book.
5. Isabel Abbott: Isabel isn't a body acceptance leader in the traditional sense, but she describes the human experience like no one else I've ever encountered. Isabel is a writer and her words about consent and radical acceptance of our humanity challenge my thinking...always. She affirms that we don't have to strive or transcend this human existence to be worthy. Check out "What if there's nothing wrong with you?" on her Patreon page.
5. Be Nourished: Hilary and Dana have been at this work for a long time now and I consider them to be leaders in raising awareness about and offering solutions to diet culture and fat phobia. They're fierce advocates for weight stigma being included in conversations about social justice and body oppressions. I've learned a lot from them over the past 2 years. You can follow them on their Facebook page.