Take Up Your Space – Unlearning Fat Shame and Embracing Body Liberation (Even When It’s Hard!) Rachel Anne Kieran, Psy.D. & Heather-Leigh/Aria

The global impact of the billion dollar diet industry is felt individually in our difficulty connecting to our bodies, inhabiting physical space, and even accepting physical pleasure (no matter what size our bodies are). This is particularly difficult for fat people, and worsened for people with multiple marginalized identities who experience not only physiological and psychological impacts, but also the systemic race, gender and class hierarchies that fat antagonism serves to maintain. This workshop will explore the roots and effects of antifat bias, share some contemporary science on the subject, and discuss processes for fighting back against the tide of antifat propaganda, and creating accepting and nurturing relationships with our physical bodies.