Body Liberation Series
The Body Liberation Series is a collaboration between the RISE Center and campus partners, including CAPS, CARE, SHEP, the LGBTQ Campus Resource Center, The Body Image TaskForce, and TransUP. This series strives to increase awareness of the intersections between body size/shape and experiences of discrimination. We encourage you to join us in this movement towards body acceptance, inclusivity, and liberation through rejection of diet culture as well as body policing across social spaces. Please find virtual content and resources dedicated to helping increase insight, build community, and foster resilience.
Video Library
Below you will find informational videos and playback recordings of our events in the Body Liberation Series.
Colonialism and Fatness
An Introduction
The Intersections of Healthism and Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness
Speaker Bio: Da'Shaun Harrison is a Black trans writer, abolitionist, and community organizer in Atlanta, GA. Harrison currently serves as the Managing Editor of Wear Your Voice Magazine, and is the author of Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness. Harrison is also a public speaker who often leads workshops on Blackness, queerness, gender, fatness, disabilities, and the intersection at which they all meet. Their portfolio and other work can be found on their website, dashaunharrison.com.
The Medical Industry and Fatness
An Introduction
The Science of Fat Shaming
Speaker Bio: Janet Tomiyama, Ph.D., (you can call her Dr. T) is a professor of Psychology at UCLA, where she also heads up the DIeting, Stress, and Health (DiSH) lab (www.dishlab.org). She went to Cornell for undergrad, graduating in 2001, and got her doctorate in Psychology from UCLA, graduating in 2009. Her work has been recognized by early career awards from national organizations like the Association for Psychological Science, and has received wide media coverage from outlets like USA Today, LA Times, BBC News, NPR, and even The Onion. Her research focuses on the harmful health consequences of stress, dieting, and fat shaming.
Gender and the Body
An Introduction
Gender is the Opposite of Fat
Speaker Bio: Han Koehle is a researcher and activist specializing in health inequity and institutional power. Han serves as the UCSB Health Equity Advocate and is a member of the Moral Support Consulting Collective, where they develop equity-centered medical education materials and strategies. Han's current research addresses trans activist resilience, health inequities among university students, and the legacy of the eugenics movement in routine medical and psychiatric care.
Health Trolling and Body Shaming
Empowering Yourself Against the Pressures of "Concern Trolling"
"Concern Trolling" https://youtu.be/qYuuREpVzt8.
Resources
Books
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Fearing the Black Body: the Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings
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The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
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You Have the Right to Remain Fat by Virgie Tovar
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Body of Truth by Harriet Brown
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Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by Lindo Bacon
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Body Respect by Lindo Bacon and Lucy Aphramor
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Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls by Jes Baker
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Big Big Love by Hanne Blank
Media
- "Lose Hate Not Weight" TED Talk by Virgie Tovar
Podcasts
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Food Psych with Christy Harrison is a podcast focused on helping you make peace with food and your body. Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CDN, interviews leaders in the body positivity and Health at Every Size® movements.
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Life. Unrestricted. with Meret Boxler interviews many leading voices in the anti-diet and Health at Every Size movements while sharing her own journey through all of it.
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Yes & Body Politics with Tresla and Guru Khalsa features two women who are passionate about body positivity and empowering people. This podcast creates opportunities for conversation about being fierce, self esteem, self image, fashion, love, sex, feminism and more.
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Body Kindness with Rebecca Scritchfield talks about how to show up with kindness for your body and to change diet culture.
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Do No Harm Podcast is a podcast geared towards educating health care professionals on shifting the focus off of weight. Originally co-created by DeAun Nelson, ND, and Sarah Thompson in Portland, Oregon, they discuss the science behind a weight-neutral approach to health. Now, DeAun produces it solo and interviews leading medical professionals.
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Heavy Conversation by Bruce from Chubstr and Jody from Bear Skn, two plus size men. They discusses the issues ranging from finding clothes that fit, to dating, to the myth that fat people can’t be active.
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Dietitians Unplugged with Glenys Oyston and Aaron Flores is a podcast exploring the ideas of health wellness from a new perspective that doesn’t shame your body. Glenys and Aaron are dietitians in LA that are down to earth and hilarious.
Articles
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Bacon, L., & Aphramor, L. (2011). Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift, Nutritional Journal.
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Tomiyama, J. et al. (2016). Misclassification of cardiometabolic health when using body mass index categories, International Journal of Obesity.
Blogs/Online Magazines
Social Media
Other Resources
Shopping/Clothing Resources
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https://www.readytostare.com/masterlist/ (Lots of links and resources, primarily female, some non-binary presenting clothing links)
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https://www.theplus-bus.com/ (Plus size consignment shop in LA, primarily female presenting clothing, but some variety)
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https://fatgirlflow.com/category/where-to-shop/ (Lots of helpful lists and links, primarily female presenting)
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https://chubstr.com/ (For males presenting in big bodies)
Thank You to Our Campus Partners!
