You weren't born just to give men a boner… with Paula D Atkinson

The History of Fatphobia, Diet Culture & Why Your Body Was Never the Problem with Paula D. Atkinson This conversation lit me up from start to finish. Paula D. Atkinson is a body liberation psychotherapist, a body justice professor, and someone who has lived in every size of body: from almost dying of anorexia to being labelled morbidly obese, and everywhere in between. She created a course at George Washington University on the history of fatphobia, eating disorders, and health as a moral imperative, and how all of it intersects with white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy. She is also writing a book. And she is one of the most ragefully, lovingly clear voices I have ever had on this podcast. This episode is for you if: You want to understand where fatphobia actually came from and why it has nothing to do with health You are in recovery and still struggling to understand why thinness felt like safety You want the historical and political context behind diet culture so you can be genuinely free from it, not just recovered from it You have been waiting for permission to be angry about all of this You are ready to stop contributing to your own oppression In this episode, we cover: ✨ Paula's personal story: born almost eleven pounds, almost died of anorexia at seventeen, homecoming queen, and still felt completely empty ✨ Where fatphobia actually began: the eugenics movement, white supremacy, the BMI, and how all of it was a backdoor form of racism when skin colour alone was no longer enough ✨ The insane closed loop of diet culture: selling us starvation, which biologically causes obsession with food and weight gain, and then selling us more starvation ✨ How the obsession with thinness keeps women too busy and preoccupied to access their actual power ✨ Why "I am no longer willing to contribute to my own oppression" is one of the most revolutionary things a woman can say ✨ How the rage we turn inward on our bodies needs to go outward instead, and why that rage is sacred ✨ Why every time you hate your thighs, you are participating in the oppression of every person in a bigger body than yours ✨ Earning as a white supremacist concept, and why you do not have to earn your needs being met by being thin or pretty ✨ The history of body ideals across the twentieth century and why whatever is hardest to achieve is always what gets sold to us next ✨ GLP-1 drugs, the death and resurrection of body positivity, and why corporations cannot give us liberation ✨ What to actually do when you look in the mirror and your head goes straight to fear and self-abandonment ✨ Why your inner child, that ten year old girl who saw through everything, deserves to be reclaimed Powerful quotes from the episode: 💬 "The obsession with thinness is not about beauty. It is about obedience." 💬 "Every time I prioritise your experience of looking at my body over my experience of existing in this body, I abandon myself. And it is always empty." 💬 "I am no longer willing to contribute to my own oppression. I have decided that I am hot as hell and other people's opinion about that is not relevant to me." 💬 "Saying there is something wrong with your body is like saying a tree is the wrong shape. It is not possible." 💬 "Women's rage is sacred. Everything good in the world exists because a woman got pissed off enough." 💬 "Your body is nature. She is so much smarter than you. The entire universe is inside her." You can find Paula at: Insta: @pauladatkinson Website: https://www.pauladatkinson.com/ TikTok: @pauladatkinson5 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WINWWY Episode of Surrounded: https://youtu.be/M7K87rGoGps?si=KPjMLmxc4KPfp0nJ  Much love. 💛 💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group 💙 Free trial in The Freedom Collective: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching 💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching 💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach