Diet Culture Rebel Podcast 234. The Problem with Mainstream Body Positivity with Chrissy King
”You can have all the self-love in the world, and that does not protect you from systemic harm.”
Body positivity is everywhere online, but is it really helping us heal? In this episode, Chrissy King joins me to explore why the mainstream body positivity message often leaves people feeling excluded or even more frustrated. We dig into shifting perspectives, the limits of focusing on individual confidence, and the systemic forces that shape our experiences in our bodies. Chrissy brings her lived experience and expertise to show why true body healing requires looking beyond “just love your body” and embracing a more inclusive, collective path.
✅ What You'll Learn:
- How the body positivity movement began, how it's been co-opted, and why it often falls short
- Why mainstream body positivity focuses too much on individual confidence and not enough on systemic challenges
- The importance of thinking collectively: healing goes beyond just ourselves and requires considering how everyone gets to exist in the world
- Ways intersectionality shapes our experience, and why focusing only on individual body image is incomplete
- How diet culture and fatphobia are rooted in racism and white supremacy, and why dismantling these systems of oppression benefits all of us
- Chrissy's take on Serena Williams' partnership with a GLP-1 company
- Why ongoing unlearning, compassion, and slow growth are essential to real body liberation work
🔗 Resources:
- Chrissy's Instagram
- Chrissy's TikTok
- Chrissy's Substack
- The Body Liberation Project by Chrissy King
- The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings
✨ If you’ve ever thought, “Why is it so hard to stop eating when I’m full?” – you’re not alone. And spoiler alert: it’s not about willpower or control. It goes so much deeper than that. Grab the free Honoring Fullness Checklist right now at DietCultureRebel.com/Checklist to start building a more positive relationship with food.
Come back next week for another episode and connect with me over on Instagram at @diet.culture.rebel.
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