Amanda Levitt is an activist and scholar working to dismantle fatphobia and highlight the ways fat stigma shows up in society. Central to her work is exposing how racism and capitalism generate conditions that shame fat people about their bodies. Amanda tells Claire how the rise of social media has made body shame inescapable in society, how finding a supportive community helped her combat the body shaming she’s experienced throughout her life, and what we can do to challenge the societal norms that lead to body shaming in the first place. 

 

Resources from the show

 

• Listen to Fat Theory Book Club, a podcast hosted by scholar and activist Amanda Levitt.
• Read Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings
• Read Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body by Susan Bordo
• Read This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture by Whitney Phillips

 

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