I Can Be Everything I Choose to Be: Body Image, Eating Disorders, and Being Nonbinary w/ Alex

[Content Warning: discussion of eating disorders and body dysmorphia] If you, like our co-hosts, are also “violently online,” then you have spent a lifetime being exposed to imagery of diet culture and disordered eating. On this week’s episode, Brianna and Kenna are joined by Alex, who shares their experience as a nonbinary person who has recovered from an eating disorder, the connection between dysphoria and dysmorphia, and the importance of implementing body positive education into modern sex ed curriculums. 
 

Below you can find a glossary of jargon-y terms we might’ve said on the show: 

• Binge eating: A type of eating disorder characterized by eating a large mass of food to the point of discomfort and loss of control. 
• Body Dysmorphia: Inaccurate perceptions of one's own body that do not match with reality 
• Body neutrality: The lens that one should accept their body as it is while recognizing that one's value does not come from how they or others see their body.  
• Diet culture: The belief that thinness should be achieved at any cost over an individual's health and wellbeing. It assigns moral significance to weight and demonizes those who exist outside of the acceptable level of thinness.  
• Disordered eating: Specific unhealthy eating behaviors such as restricting, preoccupation with weight, and over exercising, for example. When these behaviors become a distressing and damaging pattern, they can become an eating disorder.  
• Eating disorder: Patterns of abnormal eating behavior which often ignore natural hunger and satisfaction cues that interfere with one's life, health, and lifestyle.l 
• Gender dysphoria: Describes the distress, unhappiness, and anxiety that transgender people may feel about the mismatch between their bodies and their gender identity. 
• Gender non-conforming: A person whose gender expression is perceived as being inconsistent with cultural norms expected for that gender. Not all transgender people are gender non-conforming, and not all gender non-conforming people identify as transgender.  
• Nonbinary: Non-binary is an umbrella term for gender identities that are neither male nor female‍—‌identities that are outside the gender binary.Words that people may use to express their nonbinary gender identity include “agender,” “bigender,” “genderqueer,” “genderfluid,” and “pangender.”
• Top surgery: A surgery, sometimes pursued by trans men and nonbinary people, that removes the breast tissue to create a flatter and more masculine chest. 
• Transgender: A general term used to describe someone whose gender expression/gender identity are different than the sex assigned at birth. Sometimes shortened to trans.  
   

For more information about the resources we talked about in this episode, check out the links below: 

• National Eating Disorder Association:

Disclaimer:
The experiences and opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida does not guarantee the completeness, nor the accuracy of the content of this podcast and accepts no liability for any direct or indirect damage of any kind arising from, or in any way related to, the podcast’s content. The information provided in this podcast does not constitute medical, mental health, legal, or other professional advice or services.

Thank you’s and credits to the following amazing people:

• Hosts: Brianna Nelson and Kenna Bartlett 
• Planned Parenthood Staff: Kathy Dobson,  Kelsey Hunt-Dolan, and Nan Morgan 
• Audio Editor: Brianna Nelson 
• Intro and Outro Music: “Mellow” by Ethan Korvne (Check out his LP “Something Else to Do” on Spotify and Apple Music!) 
• Cover Art: Brianna Nelson