Sociology professor, writer, and performer Kimberly Dark returns to the podcast to discuss her latest book, Fat, Pretty, and Soon to be Old; why appearance is a form of privilege; how ageism intersects with other oppressions; how diet culture has influenced our ideas about self-improvement; why women are often penalized for not wearing makeup; and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how alcohol consumption fits into intuitive eating.

Kimberly Dark is a writer, professor and raconteur, working to reveal the hidden architecture of everyday life so that we can reclaim our power as social creators. She’s the author of Fat, Pretty, and Soon to be Old, The Daddies, and Love and Errors. Her essays, stories and poetry are widely published in academic and popular publications alike (Ms, Ravishly, Everyday Feminism).

Since the 1990s, Kimberly has been facilitating discovery-based learning internationally -- in person, as well as in writing. She hosts retreats, and travels to teach workshops and offer keynote presentations. Her work uses storytelling in lectures and performances themed to help audiences discover the contours of privilege and oppression and use their own complex wisdom about the world. Kimberly teaches sociology at Cal State San Marcos and writing/arts courses at Cal State Summer Arts. Learn more at KimberlyDark.com.

We Discuss:

• Kimberly’s latest books, Fat, Pretty, and Soon to be Old and The Daddies

• Her Yoga is for Every Body and Body Wise retreats

• Unconscious biases, and their role in oppression 

• The privilege of being seen as pretty

• Embracing the identities of fat and beautiful to challenge fatphobic beauty standards

• Living with both privileged and marginalized identities

• How we are all creating our culture

• The definitions of privilege and oppression

• Why oppression and privilege can be difficult to spot

• The “makeup tax,” or how women can boost their credibility by wearing makeup

• Why body positivity can be problematic

• The artful manipulation of privilege through makeup and clothing

• Why it’s OK to not be a “perfect” activist

• Normcore, and how it was created for idealized bodies

• How neoliberalism, capitalism, and diet culture have influenced our ideas about self-improvement

• Why being anti-diet is about being anti-diet-culture, not anti-dieter

• The unspoken negative consequences of participating in diet and/or beauty culture

• The racist roots of fatphobia

• Ageism, and how it intersects with other forms of oppression

• The parallels between the words “old” and “fat”

• Why Kimberly uses first-person storytelling in her work

• Reclaiming the word “fat”

• Being a better bystander/ally

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

• My book, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating

• My upcoming event dates

• Help spread the anti-diet message by subscribing to the podcast

• Kimberly’s first Food Psych® episode

• Her latest books, Fat, Pretty, and Soon to be Old and The Daddies

• Her Yoga is for Every Body and Body Wise retreats

• “Normcore: Fashion for Those Who Realize They’re One in 7 Billion”

• “Normcore, Highlighting the ‘Norm’ of Idealized Bodies”

• Laurie Essig’s work

• Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings (and her Food Psych episode)

• Kimberly’s website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Listener Question of the Week

How can a person integrate alcohol into an intuitive eating mindset? Can alcohol be categorized as a “bad” food? Is it possible to drink alcohol without feeling negativity or guilt? How does sobriety fit in with intuitive eating/drinking? Is alcohol a poison or toxin? Are there health benefits to drinking alcohol? What does an intuitive eating mindset toward alcohol look like, compared to a diet mindset? How can a person differentiate between a substance-use disorder compared to diet beliefs about alcohol? How is this similar to differentiating between a true food allergy/intolerance and one that is based in diet culture? What is the difference between alcohol addiction and “food addiction?”

Resources Mentioned: 

• Food Psych episode #80

• Food Psych episode #139