Caring about those you lead means caring about the harm you may unknowingly be doing.
Many of us who fit western standards of beauty and live in conventionally abled bodies don’t understand how our choices can cause pain. We’ve internalized ableism and fat-phobia to the point where we can’t even grasp how our words & deeds cause harm.
In particular, in the last year, and perhaps for a while longer, many of you have come to terms with the way you operate in the world and cause pain or harm in a way you have no idea.
Talking about beliefs around body, health, size, and beauty can feel like a tenuous social quagmire. Perfectionism and shame love to hang out and have a party with both mindset and mental health when tackling nuanced and vulnerable topics like this one.
We breathe in the many conflicting messages on what it means to be enough, to be strong, to be worthy. Our bodies carry the burdens of these messages and beliefs.
Recognizing how collusion with systems and toxic beliefs affects too many means taking action to alleviate this pain and suffering.
Because accepting these standards unchecked and at face value is dehumanizing and devaluing.
It’s time to choose the socially and morally responsible path to learn what it means to cultivate an environment that supports rathan than harms.
While many companies and organizations are stepping up and making an effort towards this, my guest today shares how the good intentions are often missing the intended – and needed – impact.
Lindsay Kite, PhD is co-author of the new book More Than a Body and co-director of the nonprofit Beauty Redefined, alongside her identical twin sister Lexie Kite. They both received PhDs from the University of Utah in the study of female body image and have become leading experts in body image resilience and media literacy.
Today, Lindsay and Lexie continue to help girls and women recognize and reject the harmful effects of objectification in their lives through their new book, their online Body Image Resilience course, social media activism, and regular speaking engagements for thousands of people of all ages.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
- Self-objectification and body resilience: These are the game-changer in how you can change your outlook and approach to body anxiety.
- Dr. Kite unpacks what gets in the way of how we see ourselves and how that impacts our courage and how we show up in work and life.
- The call Dr. Kite puts out for all of us—especially those with privilege—to challenge our bias around body size personally and in our places of work.
Learn more about Lindsay Kite, PhD:
Learn more about Rebecca:
Resources from this episode:
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