Feed Your Confidence

Is liking big bodies the same as feedism? Most people assume there's one line you either cross or you don't. That's the wrong question, and this episode explains why.

Alara Glutton maps the spectrum: the cluster of interests that fall under the Feedism umbrella, the roles people take on, and the different turn-ons (the body, the eating, the change, the dynamic) that explain why two people can use the same word and mean very different things. Along the way, you'll hear why fantasy-only is as legitimate as anything else, and what this means if you model in this space.

🎧 In this episode:

• Why Feedism is a cluster of related interests, not one thing
• The major turn-ons: the body, the eating, the change, and the dynamic
• Fantasy, content and roleplay, vs real-life practice, and why it isn't a ladder
• Solo, partnered, and the roles in between: Gainer, Feedee, Feeder, Admirer
• Adjacent interests, such as fat admiration without a feeding or gaining focus
• What all of this means for how you describe your own content

Where would you place yourself on the map? Tell me here! 

Hosted by Alara Glutton: 5+ years in the Feedism modeling industry, teaching what nobody else is talking about.

New episodes weekly.

Credit where it's due!
The community has been mapping this for years. The Feedism Kink Matrix, also called the Feedism Map, was first drafted in 2014 by TenderLovingCares, creator of Horngry along with PizzaWolf. This episode isn't a complete walkthrough of that work, but the community framework to start with.

• See the map: TenderLovingCares' Tumblr post, "The Feedism Map": http://tenderlovingcares.tumblr.com/post/136544760614/the-feedism-map-as-requested-with-the
• Hear the context: Horngry 4 More, "Blueberry Fetish & Fat Worship | Better Know A Kink!" (July 10, 2017, explicit). Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blueberry-fetish-fat-worship-better-know-a-kink/id1110075139?i=1000389722525 | SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tenderlovingcares/blueberry-fetish-fat-worship-better-know-a-kink

Also referenced:
Lehmiller, Justin. "Feederism: Why Some People Are Turned On by Erotic Eating and Weight Gain." Sex and Psychology, 6 Feb. 2019, www.sexandpsychology.com/?p=3231.

Correction!
In this episode I reference Veruca Salt and the Blueberry Fetish, without mentioning the actual movie title! This should be Violet Beauregarde, from the movie Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Picture a “feeder.” Now ask yourself where that picture came from.

Most of what people believe about Feedism comes from sensational headlines, not from the people actually in it. In this episode, Alara Glutton takes on the biggest myths about Feeders, Feedees, and Admirers and checks each one against what the (limited) research actually says. The answer to “is it abuse?” comes down to one question.

🎧 In this episode:

• Why “feeding is abuse” misses the point, and what separates a consensual dynamic from coercion
• Why an unusual sexual interest isn’t automatically a disorder, and where the real health conversation sits
• Who’s actually in the community, and why the stereotype is more complicated than it looks
• A quick-fire round on the smaller myths, from “it’s just about junk food” to “everyone acts on it”
• How to talk about this accurately, whether you’re a model, a client, or just curious

Got a question about feedism, modeling, or the show? Ask anonymously (no name or email required) and your question may be answered on a future episode:
https://forms.gle/ccT8ZqwfyDWmTwgJ7

Know someone who believed one of these myths? Send them this episode.

Hosted by Alara Glutton: 5+ years in the feedism modeling industry, teaching what nobody else is talking about.

Sources (MLA):

Bestard, Alyshia D. Feederism: An Exploratory Study into the Stigma of Erotic Weight Gain. 2008. U of Waterloo, MA thesis. Library and Archives Canada, collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/002/MR43596.PDF.

Charles, Kathy, and Michael Palkowski. Feederism: Eating, Weight Gain, and Sexual Pleasure. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, doi.org/10.1057/9781137470461.

Lehmiller, Justin. “Feederism: Why Some People Are Turned On by Erotic Eating and Weight Gain.” Sex and Psychology, 6 Feb. 2019, www.sexandpsychology.com/?p=3231.

Is "body positivity" secretly just a nicer way of saying people find fat bodies hot? Not quite - and untangling that question means going back further than you'd think.

This episode traces body positivity to its real roots: a 1967 protest in Central Park and a radical feminist manifesto that had nothing to do with hashtags. Then I draw a clear line between that political movement, and Feedism, a sexual dynamic that gets confused with it constantly, usually by people who haven't looked closely at either one.

If you're here for the Feedism industry content, this is the episode that explains why your attraction isn't activism, and why that's okay. If you're here for body positivity or intersectionality, this is the episode that hands you the history nobody taught you - and asks you to notice the difference between accepting a body and wanting one.

🎧 Topics covered:

• The real, radical history of body positivity (it didn't start on Instagram)
• Where feedism and body positivity overlap - and where they don't
• Why confusing the two quietly hurts both communities
• A few questions to sit with about your own relationship to your body

Got a question about feedism, modeling, or the show? Ask anonymously (no name or email required) and your question may be answered on a future episode:
https://forms.gle/ccT8ZqwfyDWmTwgJ7

Hosted by Alara Glutton - 5+ years in the feedism modeling industry, teaching what nobody else is talking about.

New episodes weekly.

To understand feedism, you have to understand the stigma it's responding to. This episode traces the historical and cultural roots of fatphobia - from Renaissance art to the insurance industry's invention of BMI - and connects it directly to why this niche exists, why it's stigmatized, and why choosing to see bodies differently is a genuinely powerful act.

🎧 Topics covered:

• What fatphobia actually is, and where it comes from
• Sabrina Strings' research (Fearing the Black Body) on how thinness became a racial and moral ideal
• The real origin of BMI - not a health tool, but a 19th-century statistical exercise
• The double standard: fat bodies sexualized and stigmatized at once, including the history of Sarah Baartman

Got a question about feedism, modeling, or the show? Ask anonymously (no name or email required) and your question may be answered on a future episode:
https://forms.gle/ccT8ZqwfyDWmTwgJ7

Hosted by Alara Glutton — 5+ years in the feedism modeling industry, teaching what nobody else is talking about.

New episodes weekly. Follow to catch the full season.

Most people think they know what Feedism is - and most people are wrong. In this episode, Alara Glutton breaks down what Feedism actually is, the roles that make up the community, and how it differs from general fat attraction. If you're curious, confused, or considering modeling in this space, this is your starting point.

🎧 Topics covered:

• What feedism means, in plain terms
• Feeder, Feedee, Gainer, and Encourager roles explained
• How Feedism differs from general fat admiration
• Top misconceptions about Feedism

Got a question about feedism, modeling, or the show? Ask anonymously (no name or email required) and your question may be answered on a future episode:
https://forms.gle/ccT8ZqwfyDWmTwgJ7

Hosted by Alara Glutton - 5+ years in the Feedism modeling industry, teaching what nobody else is talking about.

New episodes weekly. Follow to catch the full season.

You've probably never heard of feedism modeling - but somebody's already doing it, and nobody's teaching them how. That's about to change.

Feed Your Confidence is a new podcast and YouTube series hosted by Alara Glutton, exploring feedism as a niche modeling market - the psychology behind it, the business of building a real career in it, and everything nobody else is talking about. With 5+ years of industry experience, Alara covers what she wishes someone had told her on day one.

Episode 1 — "What Is Feedism, Actually?" — drops soon. Follow now so you don't miss it.

🎧 New episodes weekly.