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When you look in the mirror, are you happy with what you see? Even if losing weight or getting in shape isn’t one of your New Year’s resolutions, body image is still top of mind for many of us this time of year.
Every person comes to the table with a different set of body image concerns: Am I too fat? Too thin? Manly enough? Do my curves work for me? How can I get stronger? Does being skinny matter? Should I shape up for my wedding day? Do I have enough money to work out? Who can I talk to about all this? The questions are endless. And how does our body define who we are, along with race, gender, and all the other identities we possess?
On this first episode of Intersection in 2016, host Jamil Smith talks to four people who have all addressed body image publicly in different ways: writer and fat rights activist Lindy West, BuzzFeed books editor Isaac Fitzgerald, fitness trainer and former pro golfer Andia Winslow, and weight-loss blogger Erika Nicole Kendall. You can find links to all of their individual projects in our reading list below.
How do you feel about your body or how it’s perceived in society? Let us know by emailing us at podcast@newrepublic.com.
For more on body image, here’s this week’s reading list:
- 5 Men Talk about Their Struggles with Body Image, by Isaac Fitzgerald and colleagues for BuzzFeed
- We Recreated Famous Calvin Klein Underwear Ads and This Is What Happened, by Isaac Fitzgerald and colleagues for BuzzFeed
- The Fit Cycle, Andia Winslow’s series of DIY fitness videos
- A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss, Erika Nicole Kendall’s blog on health, body image, race, and more.
- Why I Can’t Wait to Be a Fat Bride, by Lindy West for the Guardian
- My Wedding Was Perfect, and I Was Fat as Hell the Whole Time, by Lindy West for the Guardian
- The Tyranny of the Beauty Routine, by Phoebe Maltz Bovy for the New Republic
- Notes Towards a Theory of Hair, by Siri Hustvedt for the New Republic