Episode 56 with Chrissy King
How Understanding Racism And Diet Culture Will Cultivate Joy – Chrissy King
Show Notes & Full Transcript
Chrissy King (she/her) recently published the book “The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism and Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy and Build Collective Freedom.” Chrissy shares how a series of small, brave steps led to her own body liberation and how threatened the systems of white supremacy, racism, and diet culture are by her being a free, Black woman in the world. Also, we explore if there is liberation without body liberation.
Chrissy King writer, speaker, educator, and former strength coach with a passion for creating a diverse and inclusive wellness industry. She is also the author of “The Body Liberation Project.” Through her work, Chrissy empowers individuals to stop shrinking, start taking up space, and use their energy to create their specific magic in the world. With degrees in social justice and sociology from Marquette University, Chrissy merges her passion for social justice with her passion for wellness to inspire members of the fitness industry to create spaces that allow individuals from all backgrounds to feel seen, welcomed, affirmed, and celebrated.
Mentioned in this episode: Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey and Luvvie Ajayi Jones.
Please connect with Chrissy through her website, Instagram, and TikTok.
This episode’s poem is called “Instructions on Not Giving Up” by Ada Limon.
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A Fat Joy Podcast Book Review
The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism and Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy and Build Collective Freedom
Written by Chrissy King
Respectfully reviewed by A. Cavouras
Book Summary
The Body Liberation Project clearly states that the least interesting thing about me, you, the author, is our bodies, but yet we have become so preoccupied with that single aspect of ourselves. This preoccupation, this societal obsession, is incessantly fueled by diet and fitness industries rooted in white supremacy. Step-by-step, King unpacks how we got here and what exactly we can do about it. Using her own journey towards body liberation, King shares what it means to find your own power. With her careful weaving of memoir, thoughtful research, and in-depth journal work, she invites the reader to follow on their own project in search of their own liberation.
What’s Special About This Book
As I’m reading this book my mind is swirling with the complexities of body liberation for my (white) self, my community, society as a whole. It feels daunting. What King does so well is give readers a way to process these thoughts on the page. Each chapter ends with From Principle to Practice, offering questions for readers to work through. These range from: Write a love note to your body every morning this week, to, How have you minimized or disregarded the impact of anti-Blackness in wellness culture? Yes, you might have thoughts about yourself and your body, but what else are you doing? What work are you taking on? This is what sets this book apart. Grab your duct tape if you need, because your white fragility needs to read this. If you don’t need the tape, please don’t think your work is done. As King puts it, “...it’s important that we distinguish between having a personal struggle with body image and facing systemic oppression or discrimination because of your body.” (p.42). If you are living in a body that faces systematic oppression King has all the gentle guidance for the other layers of the work for the other healing to continue.
This book will mean different things to different people. Race matters in these pages, in this context, in this movement, just as it matters throughout every aspect of life. King puts that on the page so for those of us who are still growing and listening, you can’t miss it. Take these teachings for the gift that they are. “And here’s where the rubber meets the road. Most people are willing to disavow white supremacy in words and deeds but not necessarily in action. It’s easy to say that something is bad, but it’s much harder to part ways when you feel like it will cost you something. The reality is individuals like the privileges that white supremacy affords them.”
Validating Lines for Your Heart, Your Mirror, or Your Socials
For this section I’m not sure how to pick. This book is complete as a whole and in some ways, splintering out quotes undermines the fullness of its message - full of intersections, layers and some serious truths.
P. 50 “Body liberation goes beyond body positivity, body neutrality, body acceptance, self-love, and any of the other phrases we have adapted to talk about fostering a healthy relationship with our bodies. The goal of liberation is that we can reclaim all the time, energy, and emotion we have put into yearning for the “perfect” body and find actual freedom.”
P. 52 “And finally, maybe you’re already in a place of liberation. You feel free in your body. You understand that the way you look is the least interesting thing about you, and you feel so good in your skin. You unabashedly and unapologetically love and honor yourself. I’m so happy for you. This is a beautiful place to be in. And yet, it’s a journey that never truly ends. We fight for liberation day after day, always reminding ourselves of what we know to be true.”
P. 195 “I choose to be confident in myself and my body at every stage. I no longer worry about what other people think about my body. I remind myself daily that rejection is the universe’s protection, so if someone doesn’t like me for me, it’s always a blessing. Joy is my birthright. I don’t say those words lightly. I mean them wholeheartedly, and I do my best every day to live those words and delight in myself.”
End Note
At its core, I would argue that The Body Liberation Project is about power - understanding it, finding it, using it, and holding on to it.
Exhale. There’s lots to do.
Respectfully reviewed by A. Cavouras (a.cavouras@gmail.com)