Food Psych #193: Feminism, Marketing, and Breaking Free from Diet Culture with Kelly Diels
Writer and feminist marketing consultant Kelly Diels joins us to discuss the links between diet culture, patriarchy, and anti-feminist marketing practices (aka The Female Lifestyle Empowerment Brand); the role of abundance in healing from diet culture; how to reclaim your life from The Life Thief; understanding and healing our relationship with money; and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about what to do if you’re one of those weight-loss “success stories” who’s actually just in the throes of disordered eating.
Kelly Diels (she/her) is a writer and feminist marketing consultant. She writes about a phenomenon that she calls "The Female Lifestyle Empowerment Brand," which she does not think is a good thing for women or our world. Kelly believes, instead, that we are culture makers and can create the culture we want to live in, right now. Kelly is also the Director of Marketing and Communications for SheEO (all opinions are her own). Find her writing and online workshops at KellyDiels.com.
This episode is brought to you by Poshmark, the fun and simple way to buy and sell fashion, including lots of plus-sized options. Download the free app and enter invite code FOODPSYCH for $5 off your first purchase.
We Discuss:
Kelly’s fraught relationship with food growing up
The societal messages about femininity that contributed to her eating disorder as a teenager
Kelly and Christy’s experiences as outspoken children growing up
The links between diet culture and patriarchy
Why adolescence is a high-risk time for eating disorders, especially for femme-identifying teens
How breaking free from diet culture has changed Kelly’s parenting
Why adolescence is a good time to introduce systemic analysis
The role of the Health At Every Size® and fat acceptance movements in Kelly’s recovery from anorexia and bulimia
Taking your life back from The Life Thief that is diet culture
How experiencing fatphobia can give people a heightened ability to recognize systemic oppression
Signs of a cultural shift toward increased fat acceptance
Community, including virtual communities, and their importance in recovering from diet culture
The “contagious” nature of cultural change
How Kelly was introduced to feminism, and how it helped her recover from the trauma of sexual abuse
The many anti-feminist practices in marketing today, and how it led her to her current work as a feminist marketing consultant
The meaning behind her motto, “We are the culture makers”
Why our friends and family can influence us more than big brands
The Female Lifestyle Empowerment Brand (FLEB) and how to divest from it
The men’s-rights activist lineage behind many FLEB marketing techniques
Why money and resources are important in divesting from FLEB
The parallels between the traumas of diet culture and poverty
Abundance, and its role in healing from diet culture
Creativity and ingenuity as survival tools
The creativity inherent in many of the coping mechanisms that are demonized by our society, such as binge eating and addiction
Media and resources as a form of community
Kelly’s work with SheEO
The difference between how women and men spend their income
Understanding and healing our relationship with money
The importance of having money and resources for survival, especially for marginalized people
Resources Mentioned
Some of the links below are affiliate links. Affiliates or not, we only recommend products and services that align with our values.
Submit your questions for a chance to have them answered on the podcast!
My online course, Intuitive Eating Fundamentals
Help spread the anti-diet message by subscribing to the podcast
Shapely Prose, and Kate Harding’s current work
Health At Every Size by Linda Bacon (CW: Dr. Bacon no longer recommends this book and prefers that people read Body Respect instead)
Linda Bacon’s Food Psych® podcast episode
Marianne Kirby’s work
Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby
‘Your Difference Is Your Advantage’ Says this #XLBossLady (Kelly’s interview in Forbes)
Shrill by Lindy West (and her Food Psych episode)
The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volume 1: 1931-1934 by Anaïs Nin
“The Wealthy Feminist,” one of Kelly’s popular blog posts
Audre Lorde’s work
This episode is brought to you by Poshmark, the fun and simple way to buy and sell fashion, including lots of plus-sized options. Download the free app and enter invite code FOODPSYCH for $5 off your first purchase.
Listener Question of the Week
Where does the “95-98% of diets fail” statistic come from? Is it true that of the small percentage of people who are able to maintain long-term weight loss, most are struggling with some form of disordered eating? What is the true meaning of “body positivity?” How can a person be happier in a larger body when they know that they are engaging in unhealthy habits that are contributing to weight gain? What does Health At Every Size actually entail? How is HAES a holistic approach? Why are higher body weights generally considered unhealthy? What are some factors that could lead to people in larger bodies having more negative health outcomes? Why is it important to recover from disordered eating? How can weight stigma and other forms of discrimination contribute to poor health? Are there any health conditions that can only be managed with weight loss?
(Resources Mentioned (TW for all research papers mentioned for specific weight numbers, o-words, fatphobic language, and/or description of disordered eating behaviors):
The Results of Treatment for [O-word]: A Review of the Literature and Report of a Series
Long-term Weight Loss Maintenance in [O-word]: Possible Insights from Anorexia Nervosa?
Christy’s slides from HAES vs. Weight Management debate at FNCE 2018 (TW: specific weight number mentioned, research papers linked in slides contain potentially triggering content)