You know that feeling when you’re walking down the hall, or through a room of people and it feels like everyone is staring at you?

And you know in those moments you almost start to stare at yourself?

You become acutely aware of the way your clothes are hanging on your body, your posture, the way you’re walking, the hairstyle you chose that day–and chances are you’re not thinking about how awesome you look.

There is a name for this experience.

It’s called self-objectification and we all do it.

We’re groomed for it from birth. It is at the root of so many of our own body image problems. And we’re raising our kids to do the exact same thing.

Self-objectification is the concept of trying to look at ourselves through the eyes of others. We cannot see our own bodies walking through the world, but we definitely imagine them and when we do, we imagine them through a lens of criticism and unworthiness. There are so many reasons we do this, and NONE of them are healthy. 

Today’s guest at the campfire is Lexie Kite.

Lexie and her identical twin sister, Lindsay, are the co-directors of Beauty Redefined, a nonprofit working to help girls and women improve their body image and self-worth as they wade through harmful cultural ideals. They are the co-authors of the book More Than a Body. 

Check out the full episode to hear about:

• Defining internalized objectification and self-objectification and how it presents in cis and trans kids
• Why expanding the definition of beauty isn’t enough
• Ways to empower your kiddo to challenge body-centered talk and build body image resilience

Find out more about Lexie Kite:

• Beauty Redefined
• More Than a Body
• Instagram: @beauty_redefined
• Twitter: @TakeBackBeauty
• Facebook: @BeautyRedefined

Find out more about Mackenzie Dunham:

• Wildheartsociety.org
• wildheartsociety.org/downloads
• Wild Heart Society on Facebook
• Wild Heart Society on Instagram