“Body Positivity” Is Meaningless
Slate Daily Feed
Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2021
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode, Madison and Rachelle discuss how the phrase “body positivity” has lost all meaning. They talk about how the body-positivity movement started as a way to advocate for fat acceptance, including with respect to such tangible issues as healthcare and employment, but how the phrase has been co-opted into memeable soundbites on TikTok and Instagram that serve no real purpose beyond gaining likes and follows. (At least Lizzo gets it.) They also share how an excessive focus on body-consciousness has followed them their whole lives, and examine why the recent focus on “body positivity” on social media has distracted from actual issues. Plus, they run down what happened with Demi Lovato and that frozen yogurt shop.
Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Every day I wake up and am subject to the burden of embodiment. |
| 0:08.4 | How dare I be a shape. |
| 0:12.9 | Hi, I'm Madison Malone Kircher. |
| 0:15.1 | And I'm Rachel Hampton, and you're listening to I see why am I. |
| 0:18.4 | In case you missed it. |
| 0:19.8 | Slate's podcast about internet culture. |
| 0:22.3 | Rachel, I would like Froyo. |
| 0:24.1 | Ooh, what's got you in the move for some Froyo? |
| 0:27.7 | Some pinkberry? |
| 0:29.8 | I'm a strawberry froyo girl. |
| 0:31.7 | A little coconut on top. |
| 0:33.5 | Ew. |
| 0:34.6 | Do you say ew? |
| 0:35.5 | I don't like coconut. |
| 0:36.6 | I'm sorry. |
| 0:37.5 | Oh, you're missing out. It't like coconut. I'm sorry. Oh. |
| 0:38.5 | You're missing out. |
| 0:39.8 | It's like delicious fingernails. |
| 0:41.8 | No. |
| 0:44.6 | Why? |
| 0:47.4 | The thing that has me thinking about Froyo, though, very darkly, is Demi Lvado low-key picking a fight with a Froyo shop in L.A.? |
| 0:56.7 | I saw this going by on Instagram, and I saw, like, Demi Lvado feuding with Big Chill yogurt. |
... |
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