When I was considering which episodes of the SMA I wanted to bring back for you this week, I went to see what my most downloaded episodes of the last couple of years have been. This interview with Aubrey Gordon was my most downloaded episode of this year. I think (and hope!) this is because you are all huge Aubrey fans AND I hope this episode's popularity is a reflection of this community’s openness and eagerness to have conversations around bodies, size, anti-fat bias, and fat activism. Sizeism, the discrimination toward a person or group of people based on their size or weight, remains the only socially acceptable form of discrimination and oppression - and it’s rampant. Since this interview, Aubrey has gone on to release her very own documentary, Your Fat Friend, which has received an abundance of awards and critical acclaim, packing theaters at film festivals and selling out theater after theater across the US and various other countries. As you consider your relationship within your body as you enter 2024, I invite you to listen and learn from Aubrey. She may be able to bring you peace and ease with your current body that you have never found before.

Aubrey Gordon writes under the pseudonym of “Your Fat Friend,” illuminating the experiences of fat people and urging greater compassion for people of all sizes. She is the author of What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat and her newest book, You Just Need to Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths About Fat People. Her work has reached millions of readers and has been translated into 19 languages. She is co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast, a top-rated podcast since its launch in 2021, and a columnist with SELF magazine. Her work has also been featured in Health magazine, Vox, and Gay Mag, among others. She lives in the Northwest, where she works as a writer and organizer.

Listen in to hear Aubrey share:

What it was like for her to go from an anonymous online writer to a fully public figure
How the success of the Maintenance Phase has impacted her work
How women are conditioned to externally process and speak about their bodies and food constantly and how this is harmful in a myriad of ways
The importance of understanding thin privilege and recognizing if you benefit from thin privilege
Scripts and language for parents to talk to kids about bodies and fatness in a neutral way
How to talk to your kids about healthy eating without subscribing to your own internalized messages from diet culture

Links mentioned:

Connect with her at yourfatfriend.com and aubreygordon.net/
Book: What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat
Book: You Just Need to Lose Weight - And 19 Other Myths About Fat People
Podcast: Maintenance Phase
Aubrey on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @yrfatfriend

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Thanksgiving Series X Mary Hollis Huddleston