So much of our modern discourse around productivity, empowerment, entrepreneurship, and personal growth includes messages about our bodies. These messages might not be explicit, but the messages are there—and our brains pick them up loud and clear.

Similarly, we might not realize that we’re sharing messages that insert themselves into how others perceive their own bodies—but many of us are. It’s impossible to talk about self-discipline, accountability, or efficiency without those concepts leaving their marks on our flesh.

This episode covers a tiny sliver of all the ways that the medium of self-help acts on our bodies. But my hope is that it will encourage you to think critically about the messages you receive about your body and the messages you share that might impact others’ bodies.

You’ll hear from independent beauty culture journalist Jessica DeFino, body confidence influencer Tiffany Ima, and Flaunt Your Fire founder India Jackson.

This episode contains frank talk about bodies, weight, beauty, dieting, and related topics. I know that these subjects can trigger harmful thoughts and behaviors for me if I’m not careful. So please, take care while listening to this episode.

This episode originally aired on October 18, 2022. It's been slightly updated for this rebroadcast.

Footnotes:

• Subscribe to Jessica DeFino’s newsletter about beauty culture and the beauty industry.
• Follow Tiffany Ima on Instagram.
• Listen to the Flaunt Your Fire podcast and learn more about India Jackson.
• Erica Courdae on reconsidering your normal, as well as “Normal is a Life with Michelle Kuei” on the Pause on the Play podcast.
• “Body acceptance stops at the skin. Why?” by Jessica DeFino
• “The Skin as an Antidote to Consumerism” by Jessica DeFino
• “How White Supremacy and Capitalism Influence Beauty Culture” by Jessica DeFino in TeenVogue
• What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
• “Postscript on Societies of Control” by Gilles Deleuze
• Self-Help, INC by Micki McGee
• “Rachel Hollis Part 1: Hashtag Relatable” on Maintenance Phase
• “The Trouble with Calories” on Maintenance Phase
• “Bodybuilding vs Powerlifting vs Weightlifting” on Shape
• Confidence Culture by Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill
• Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World by Danielle Friedman
• 3 Books for Remembering “You Have a Body”: On disability, on chronic illness, and on our bodies in society

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