Tags: body positivity, body neutrality, social justice, fat liberation, beauty, body image
“I think for me the very idea of body positivity is often centered on the individual when the problem instead is collective, right? It’s a societal problem and jo solution aapko present kiya jaata hai (the solution that is presented to you) is that you love your body and that is going to solve everything, but that is not the solution under a system of hate and oppression, right? Instead of looking at collective care and collective liberation strategies, we’re thinking about putting the onus on the individual to fight back against something like this.”
— Vandita Morarka on the body positivity movement, in conversation with co-host Sanchi Mehra in this episode of the podcast.
How do our bodies position us in communities and in societies? How do they affect the way we interact with the world? Join co-hosts Vandita Morarka and Sanchi Mehra, along with Sonaksha Iyengar, an illustrator, graphic recorder and book designer, one last time this season as they talk about the personal and political nature of our bodies.
Content Warning: This conversation deals with heavy topics like fatphobia, discrimination and wrongful diagnosis.
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Love to read or want to revisit your favourite bits? Dive into the full transcript below!
Vandita
Hi everyone, hope you’re doing well. Welcome back to the Nurturing Radical Kindness Podcast, a space where we explore radical kindness as a pathway to achieving social justice. My name is Vandita and my pronouns are she and her.
Sanchi
And I’m Sanchi, and my pronouns are she/her as well. Thank you so much for joining us today and of course, a big thanks to all our listeners who have been on this journey with us, have been engaging in these conversations and sending us reflections and feedback.
Vandita
Yes, we’ve really enjoyed going through them and learning from y’all, what your experiences have been like. Today we’re talking about something that is deeply important and personal for me as well. We’re gonna be discussing how our bodies can shape the way we navigate with the world, right? How they are both, personal and political, and how do they position us in our communities and in society? And I’m just going to deep dive right in. So let’s get started. Sanchi, for me, one key question that comes to mind is that you know, we speak a lot about movements when we’re talking about our bodies but what do we even mean by terms like ‘body positivity’?
Sanchi
Right. Thank you so much for that question, Vandita, and I think it is a wonderful place to start our conversation with for today and even though there might not be a clear answer to that because it might look different for everybody, let’s begin with seeing ki (that) what does the concept of body positivity say in general, and what does it aim to achieve? Toh body positivity jo movement hai (the body positivity movement), it’s rooted in this belief ke saare human beings ko apni body ek positive light may view karni chahiye (all human beings should look at their bodies in a positive light), while also challenging the ways in which society presents and views the physical body. Toh basically ye movement kahti hai ki (the movement says that) we should rebel against jo bhi (any) unrealistic beauty norms and conventional beauty standards – we should resist these by simply loving ourselves. Toh mujhe meri apni khud ki body ko ek positive light mein dekhna chahiye (So I should view my body in a positive light) regardless of what the prevalent idea of beauty is, and irrespective of the ideal beauty type that the society has created for us. And of course, this ideal body type includes humaare pop culture mein jin bodies go perfect and desirable consider kiya jaata hai (the bodies which pop culture considers perfect and desirable) and by default then jinko zyaada positive representation diya jaata hai (bodies that get more positive representation). Toh (so) body positivity says ki (that) despite all this, I should view my body in a positive manner and therefore as an extension I should also have a positive relationship with it. And hashtags, like love yourself, are very commonly used within this movement. And Vandita, even though this might work for many people and it may be beneficial to them, I have also been hearing and reading about body neutrality, which is something that I agree with more.
So, body neutrality is sort of the middle ground between body dissatisfaction and body positivity and what it does is that it aims at accepting our bodies and focusing on ki humaari bodies kya kar sakti hai? What are our bodies capable of instead of focusing on appearance? And in fact, body neutrality took as an opposing movement to body positivity. Toh agar (so if) body positivity emphasises the idea that everyone is beautiful, body neutrality comes in to simply proclaim that yes, everyone is – and end of story. Ek chota sa example deti hoon (I’ll give a small example), of why neutrality works better for me than positivity. Toh jab bhi mein exercise karti hu (whenever I exercise), I feel super strong and it helps me clear my mind, my energy levels are better and it also helps me stay focused and happier, and all of this has nothing to do with my appearance and I just think that it’s so empowering to workout because I want to stay fit and healthy and not because it’ll help me conform to a conventional beauty standard, right? Toh mere liye body neutrality ek zyaada inclusive approach hai (for me, body neutrality is a more inclusive approach), because it helps me see ke (that) what it is that my body is capable of doing. And you know, I, among lots of other people, feel that body positivity kabhi kabhi hum pe bohot pressure daal deti hai (sometimes puts a lot of pressure on us) to always continuously and constantly view our bodies as positive, but aise bhi toh din honge jab (there may be some days), I am not as positive about some aspects of my body, and that’s completely OK. And for me, that’s where neutrality actually comes in and makes space for me. I can’t always love my body because some days that might be emotionally exhausting, and at least for me, aise times mein (in these times) I feel heard within the neutrality school of thought.
And of course, this is not to say that this or that is better. Movements and spaces are always evolving. There is always a need to check where they are going and especially who they are benefiting and what structures they are upholding or perpetuating. So while positivity might work for some, neutrality might make more space for the others. And along these lines also, even though this shift away from our appearances that we’re trying to make is a super important one, hum ye deny nahi kar sakte (we can’t deny) that our appearances play a huge role in how we live in society, how our relationships are formed, how our general experiences in life are. So, Vandita, how much of our navigation do you think depends on the bodies we occupy?
Vandita
Thank you for raising those really important points, Sanchi. I think I’m just gonna pick off from that and then talk about, at least for me, what navigating a world in my body has looked like, right? I think for me the very idea of body positivity is often centred on the individual when the problem instead is collective, right? It’s a societal problem and jo solution aapko present kiya jaata hai (the solution that is presented to you) is that you love your body and that is going to solve everything, but that is not the solution under a system of hate and oppression, right? Instead of looking at collective care and collective liberation strategies, we’re thinking about putting the onus on the individual to fight back against something like this. So, I think for me, that has always been a big sticking point.
And the other thing has been that the very idea and constructive beauty, the way we see it today is deeply colonial and patriarchal. Our constructive beauty is not one that allows for us to view multiple things as beautiful. We see very specific types of things as beautiful, you know, and even the very idea of sometimes even saying that, ‘Oh, everyone is beautiful’. But why has that become such an aspirational standard? Like I don’t want to be beautiful, I want to be seen as smart, I want to be seen as independent, I want to be seen as a caring person, a witty person.
And I understand the need for people to have this affiliation to beauty, but I also feel that in our social justice movements, it is definitely something to move away from, because I mean, people who work in this space understand better than a lot of others how much our identity intersects with our bodies. Not only does it change the way we live in the world, it changes our everyday experiences. The way you are supposed to sit or stand based on your gender, the idea that everything is only designed for, you know, two genders, just within a binary. From your washrooms to clothing to everything is designed based on your body. I’m also thinking about living with disabilities or chronic illnesses and how the world really does not accommodate for that. So, something as small as sitting at the workplace, right? Say for me, I live with a lot of chronic pain because of previous injuries. I also have other chronic illnesses, so things like sitting in one position for a really long time at the workplace, without options of other forms of rest, without making space for working online before the pandemic happened. All of these things design the world in a way that only allows certain types of bodies to thrive. And I know we’ve been speaking about it, but I’m very excited now to introduce our guest as well, and I’m going to hand it back over to you, Sanchi, because I think they’ve done some incredible work just around building awareness and fat liberation and viewing our body as more than just a standard of beauty.
Sanchi
Absolutely. Thank you so much for your reflections, Vandita, and like you rightly pointed out, we have a wonderful guest here with us today and I’m so excited to hear from you. Hi, Sonaksha. I’ll just quickly say, a lot that doesn’t do justice to all that Sonaksha does. Sonaksha is an illustrator, graphic recorder and book designer. They use art to contribute to social justice movements and work with organisations defending human rights. They are currently dreaming and drawing about mental health, fat liberation, LGBTQIA+ folks and intersectional feminism. Welcome Sanaksha. So excited to have you here today!
Sonaksha
Hi, thank you so much. I’m really, really excited to be here today and to be speaking about bodies. It’s definitely one of my favourite things to talk about and think about, not because it’s like this really lovely thing to think about since it’s shaded with a lot of the oppression that comes with it, but because, as you both were saying, it’s an important thing to think about in terms of the way we navigate the world on a daily basis. So, thank you for having me here.
Sanchi
So excited for this, Sonaksha, and thank you already for sharing your thoughts with us. And you know, we were just talking about how our bodies greatly affect the way we exist in society. So, I’d like to hear from you, how much does the body really matter? How does it change the way we live in the world?
Sonaksha
I think it’s, I mean, I think it’s kind of like one of those things where people just say, you know, like colour doesn’t exist or like caste doesn’t exist just as a way to kind of ignore it or to kind of to lessen it, but it’s not true. It very much exists just as our bodies exist, and with their existence comes a lot of different things that are basically, because of the way the world is made and created, like the way that all of us navigate is completely different. And what happens, like with most things, is that people whose bodies are marginalised or who are discriminated against by institutions, end up being the ones who are left out or who are oppressed in every possible way. So I think it definitely is a huge part of the way we navigate the world. And in fact, as a fat person, as someone who’s always been fat, it’s been a really huge part of the way I move in the world. It’s a huge part of every interaction I have, every space I go to and then later as I began to have chronic pain and chronic illness, that added another layer, especially from a disability point of view, to how spaces were accessible or not accessible and I think these are some of the ways that we kind of think of how we navigate the world with our bodies, but of course, there’s also so many other ways that aren’t being spoken about at the moment. I think it definitely is a huge part of the way that we exist in the world, which is why I think it’s really important that we speak about it and share our experiences in whatever ways we can.
Vandita
Thank you so much for that, Sonaksha. I resonate very strongly with everything that you’ve shared. And just let a small plugin to say that your art has really helped me feel represented, seen and heard. And that also takes me to the next question that I have, that certain bodies are seen and heard and they’re made space for while others just automatically don’t have that privilege, and I would want to focus this around social justice movements and while they might be trying, I find that they in themselves can be fairly exclusionary and I would love to focus around the idea of fat bodies and bodies that live with chronic illnesses. Why do you think that is and what is it that we can do in terms of active strategy to navigate this?
Sonaksha
Right. Yeah, I think it’s definitely a huge issue that even I’ve been thinking a lot about, especially over the last few years as I’ve become more involved in the social justice space. I think, like you rightly said, anti-fatness is something that is very much present even within social justice spaces and it comes through in the way that spaces are designed or the politics we’re speaking of or the kind of people we see on stage, right? Like I think one of the best compliments for me is always just people saying that they feel seen in some way through my work, because that’s something that I never felt growing up, which is why I think I make it a point to dry and draw bodies that I haven’t seen right? And I think with the social justice movement, again, it’s very easy to kind of leave out this whole aspect of fatness and disability justice because, like some people say, it’s too much or it’s just too difficult to navigate or address. And I mean, like, let’s sit with the discomfort. Like, why is it so difficult for us to address this? Is it because of years of ableism that is literally built into the structures that we exist in every day? Is it because, like you said earlier, so much of the movement of body positivity was born from fat liberation but has now become this thing that has been co-opted and sort of really made into a space where they’re kind of putting the onus back on the individual to love their body, rather than addressing the fact that society continuously oppresses, bullies and shames fat people and fat bodies and disabled people, people with disfigurements, etc.
And I think within social justice movements, the way that we can really address this is by being very upfront about our stance on it. So, I think instead of talking about body positivity, we should slowly begin to read more about the people who are doing work in the spaces of fat liberation and disability justice because these are really important intersections, right? We don’t lead single-issue lives as Audre Lorde said. So, I think it’s really important to bring in all the facets of our existence, because for many of us, literally existing in our body itself is a form of resistance. And I think being in a social justice space it would be completely strange to not address that especially when we are having conversations about power and communication,I mean how can we not address bodies, right? And I think one of the quotes that really comes to mind is again by Audre Lorde, which is, ‘The visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength.’ And I think that is something that I keep thinking about because being visible truly makes you vulnerable. Every time I post artwork about being fat or something like that, there’s always people in my DMs or I’ll get emails about weight loss programs, etc., and so many people face this on a daily basis. When you are visible you are more vulnerable, but it also is sort of what really gives us this space and power to be ourselves and to really occupy space, the space that we’ve been denied for so long. I think that’s where so many of us like to get our strength from too.
Vandita
Thank you so much for that, Sonaksha. Those are powerful points, especially the one around visibility and our strength. I do want to add a little bit here to uplift that often people individually feeling uncomfortable in their bodies is equated with the same systemic oppression and hatred that certain types of bodies face, and I think increasingly it’s so important to make that distinction that while, of course, each of us has our personal journeys with our bodies and the way society is engaged, you’re made to feel bad about something or the other about your body. But that is extremely different from the sort of systematised oppression and hate that certain bodies face. Like even within the social sector, I’m gonna invite listeners to also think about this that, does your body affect the way you maybe get ratings when you teach a program or when you facilitate something? Or does Instagram’s algorithm give you certain reach because of, you know, the type of body you have or the way you present yourself? And I think these are complex issues that we’re not generally speaking about, and often we’re also really uncomfortable to call out and ask, right? And I don’t necessarily have a solution, but it is something that I’m thinking about a lot more nowadays.
Sonaksha
Yeah, and I think thinking about it is definitely important. Also, things like, you know, seeing who you’re following on social media, who are the people that are being amplified in press, who are the bodies that you’re seeing in advertisement, even if it is people who aren’t necessarily like celebrities, who are the people who are getting space to kind of express themselves, right, and whose voices are being amplified like you said. And I think just thinking about these things is a really huge thing because that really enables us to begin to have these conversations, which I think is really important and will help us go a long way in terms of making space to discuss and share and also kind of possibly create spaces for learning, at least that’s the hope.
Vandita
Thanks for that. That’s incredible. I hadn’t thought of it in that way and I’m gonna be going back, like looking at who I follow and how I can change that because it’s so instinctive sometimes, but I know that instinct is also nurtured, right? And we can unlearn it. So, I’m definitely going to try, yes.
Sanchi
Absolutely agreed. I think I’m getting so many things here that I need to go back and think about. And you know, something that I’m also thinking about is how my interaction with the world has changed since we’ve gone virtual. So, I started a job in a completely virtual environment and it’s been six months that I have been with my current employer and I have never seen nor met my teammates in person. And, you know, on days, I feel really grateful for that because on days that I’m uncomfortable with my body or in the space that I’m occupying, it just makes my interaction so much easier with them. And you know, jumping off from there, I also want to talk about this concept of shame that we get right? And Sonaksha, a lot of our social institutions also instinctively build it in us to be ashamed of our bodies. Like I am short and I’m fat and I’m told that I should be ashamed of that. And also, how certain bodies are told that you have to perform or be in line with what is expected from your body type, right? What are your thoughts on that and how do we go about dismantling this?
Sonaksha
Um, yeah. I think it is an expectation that inherently comes with our bodies that people kind of impose on us, which is where this whole idea of, like the fact that it is an institutional, systemic problem comes in, right? This is exactly why something like body positivity isn’t going to be helpful, because, you know, I’ve had experiences of places where I have been discriminated because I’m fat or because I live with chronic illness or chronic pain, and when you tell people that their response is, ‘But you’re like so comfortable with yourself’ and that’s so great or like you know, like it’s OK, like they are the ones who lost out. And yeah, like those are all really great things to say, but we are also very evidently being discriminated against and we are losing out on things that we could not have if the institution was built in a way that made space for all of us to exist. And I think movements like the body positivity movement, somewhat lean towards trying to make things a bit more comfortable in terms of, you know, like what is more palatable, what is easier to process. So, telling people that like, hey, the way you think about yourself, if you change that, that is enough, this then gives them the chance to not put in the work to change these institutional practices and cultural beliefs.
And I think with the places that we work, with the places that we visit, even things like hospitals, right? Fat people disabled people, we just have such a love-hate relationship with hospitals because actually, I don’t even think it’s love-hate, I think it’s need-hate because sometimes you really just need medical care and then you also just really, you know, want to do everything to avoid it because of such horrible experiences that you’ve had and all the trauma that comes with it because of the way that bodies like ours are treated. There is so much research which has said that doctors end up immediately diagnosing fat people with just everything being related to their weight. So for instance, I have also had so many experiences where doctors have immediately just said, you know, like, ‘Oh, you have a migraine, just lose some weight’, and it seems really bizarre and when you say it to people as a story, they are just like, “OK, haha, that’s a funny thing”, but it’s also someone’s reality on a day-to-day basis. And I think a really important part of it is acknowledging that this thing is uncomfortable, especially for people who aren’t facing it, right? For instance,a lot of people whom I have shared these experiences with, they’re a bit astounded, they’re surprised, they’re unsure how this can even be a thing, but I think we really need to learn to sit with that discomfort and sit with like being uncomfortable and really question why spaces are like this, and how we can try and do something to change it because otherwise, it’s just we are all just going to completely avoid the uncomfortable things and we are just going to continue to have very superficial spaces that aren’t actually addressing things or aren’t actually changing like systemic forces.
And I think shame is a really huge part of it, because when you feel shame you are more prone to, more vulnerable to being sold things to. So of course, it’s a huge part of capitalism and the way it works and the way that things are designed to make us feel ashamed and insufficient and then give us things that will fill that gap for us. And I think, like Vandita was saying earlier, there’s of course like two different journeys. There’s an individual’s journey and there’s also a movement and I think we are all on our own journeys, but we all need to consciously be a part of the movement and really put in the work, and as we do that, it kind of automatically keeps adding to our own individual journeys. And I think we’re sort of in that way, we are like building gardens almost, towards the futures that we really want to live in. And I think that is how at least I’m dreaming of how we can sort of dismantle this systemic anti-fatness and ableism.
Vandita
Sonaksha, those were such excellent points. Thank you for bringing them up. I think often we don’t call these things out, like we don’t label them for what they are. I know that, even for friends, right? It might seem like a small thing that you went to a doctor and you had a migraine and they said, you know, maybe lose weight, but I’ve gone to a doctor for similar things, right? And irrespective of what I have, the diagnosis has always been related to my body weight and not to what I’m actually going through. And I think at some point, because shame around being fat is so institutionalised, it’s no longer seen as what it actually is. It is medical negligence, right? It is not providing me the same standard of care that you would provide someone else, and this is across board like say from a furniture provider to a doctor to anyone that’s catering any service, but it’s just that our bodies have so much shame linked to them that, in any other situation, if you were not being provided a service adequately well, you would not feel shame for it. But in this situation, you’ve been designed to think in a way where instead of saying that’s not OK, what you’ve done is wrong, we start thinking about maybe this is what I deserve because maybe I’m doing something wrong in the way I’m just existing, right? And yeah, that for me really stood out and I think that was really powerful and it’s something that I know I have grappled with and I feel like most people who are fat or who live with chronic illnesses or who just have bodies that don’t fit into a certain normative idea really, really struggle with. So thanks for calling that out, specially. I think something that for me, as a child and also and while growing up, right, which is why I keep saying I find so much resonance in your art, is that so much of our idea of our body image can be affected by what we see represented in pop culture, which could be music videos, movies and even just what we see on social media. What do you think we can do to manage the negative side effects? Like even something which might seem so innocuous, like villains often being portrayed as that or, you know, linking negativity to certain body types or humour to certain body types and that becomes so internalised as our identities.
Sonaksha
Yeah, totally. I mean the whole concept that there is something called a DUFF, right, like a designated ugly fat friend is really reflective of the kind of “representation” that fat people have in any kind of pop culture. And like you said, I’m just so tired of seeing fat people as villains, seeing fat people as a joke, seeing fat people being given a space only to be made fun of or to be laughed at, and it just gets like, I mean, at this point I’m literally just like, please do not give me representation. I’d really rather not if this is the representation I’m going to get. And I think so many of us have really grown-up kind of either like disconnecting from our bodies from a really young age or just straight up hating them, right? Because everything tells us that we should, like growing up, like a lot of the rom-coms that I saw, I remember the fat person was always the person who was just there to be made fun of, or to just be someone that the lead can cry to when there was an issue, but they were never centred. They never had their own stories. They never had the space to have to have normal day-to-day things be shown or happen to them. Like there’s always, when you see a fat person in a movie that is in the lead role, it’s always about their fatness but there’s so much more to us. Like we just have lives like everyone else. So like, can we talk about fat people and not make it a movie about weight loss or them discovering that they suddenly love their body? And like it’s just, you know, I’ve been thinking so much about this that, you know, at this point, I really just feel like, can we just exist in our bodies and justice be in our bodies and not have to like love it or hate it or do anything else with it? Like why are we not making space for that? Like, why? Because, I mean, I think this is another thing that happens with disabled people, right? Like, there’s so much inspirational disability content that comes up and like disability is used in a space that’s either inspirational or it’s used in a space that, where people are saying that they don’t want to have a body like that but why is there no in-between? Like, why aren’t we just telling stories from and by disabled people about their lives just as anyone else’s lives? Why does it always have to be like, ‘oh, they’ve overcome something’? Many of us don’t want to overcome disability, like it’s just our day-to-day lives. I think that’s why finding the disability justice movement was really liberating for me because it really brought in so much of what I found within the fat liberation movement and kind of connected so many dots for me.
And I think within pop culture, we have not even reached the beginning of trying to address any of these things. I think at least within books, for instance, I feel like there are still a few books that do make space for these kind of conversations and stories, but within movies and social media, it’s really, really difficult because these are, like you said, these are also the bodies that are often censored, that are taken down, that are constantly reported or that are trolled so much that it’s hard to even exist in that kind of body online, because it makes your day-to-day life and your mental health really difficult to deal with.
So then we are kind of losing out on so many people and so many stories that we could have had if we weren’t being really cruel to people who had bodies that were different from ours, right? And I think, for me at least, that’s what it sort of comes to. Like, why is everything that we see and hear like the same kind of person? Because when I look around me in a room, there’s never really like the same people who are sitting next to me. They don’t always look like me. They don’t look like each other. We are all so different, but somehow in pop culture everyone sort of looks the same and that’s really bizarre. And the fact that it has become a standard is incredibly strange, but also incredibly harmful in terms of, I mean thinking about someone who’s seeing it while growing up or someone who’s seeing it at whatever age, right? It’s really disheartening to never, be able to see yourself in something you consume so much of. I think we need to, make more spaces in pop culture for people to tell their own stories, because that’s another thing, like sometimes I have seen where people have tried to include these things, but then it ends up being like a parody or it ends up being really ridiculous because they don’t have the lived experience. And I think that’s really important, centering lived experiences. We are real people and we deserve to be seen and we deserve to tell our stories as well. So yeah, I think those are my thoughts on pop culture.
Sanchi
Such great points, Sonaksha, and I was like, wow, I relate to so much of that because right when you started talking about the DUFF stereotype, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’ve had such a terrible experience in my childhood and adolescence dealing with that stereotype.’ And seriously, like you said, it’s exhausting. It’s just like nahi chahiye tumhara representation agar aisa representation ho raha hai toh (we don’t want this kind of representation). I completely hear that and I got to learn so much, Sonaksha. So I’m just curious for our listeners and for us, if we want to learn more about this topic, would you have any book or article or show recommendations?
Sonaksha
Sure. So I’ll tell you about a couple of books that I have read and some that are on my reading list but that I haven’t gotten to. So one book that I really love is Hunger by Roxane Gay, which is a memoir of Roxane’s body, as she says on the cover, and it is the most incredible memoir and book I think I have read in recent times. I read it a couple of years ago when it was released and till date, so many things that Roxanne shared have really stuck with me. Another book that I would really recommend is Happy Fat by Sophie Hagen who is my favourite comedian and I have the biggest crush on them and yeah, they also share a lot of incredible things on social media so I fully recommend following them. One book that is on my list to read ASAP is Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings which is about the racial origins of fatphobia. I’ve heard so much about this book and I’m definitely very excited to read it. And I also would suggest following spaces like Pitch Media and following people like Virgie Tovar and Shoog McDaniel because they are people who live in these spaces and who talk about these spaces all the time on social media and I think that’s what is really important. And one last thing, I would recommend Season One of ‘Shrill’ only for, I mean, it has its good moments meh moments, but my favourite scene is the ‘pool party scene’. It was just such an incredible scene and it really made me cry and I think every fat person may relate to it. I know so many who have. So I’m sure that many of us would find that liberating. Yeah, I think that’s about it.
Sanchi
I was just furiously making notes of all this while we were getting our recommendations and I’m going to just go back and check all of that out, but I think that’s a great way to wrap up today’s conversation. This was so much fun and I got to learn so much. Thanks so much for joining us today, Sonaksha.
Sonaksha
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Vandita
Yes. Thank you so much. I was wondering if you also want to leave our listeners with a reflection activity they can do or something they can do to actively change things around them.
Sonaksha
I think, I don’t have a specific activity, but I really do spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m reading, what I’m watching, who I’m following, and I would suggest that people do have a look at that just because it, I mean it unknowingly sort of dictates so much of what we’re thinking about and we’re talking about and I think that would be a good place to kind of start and see where we’re at. And yeah, and I think definitely follow people who are speaking about this and sharing their experiences on a day-to-day basis like many of the people I mentioned earlier. And yeah, I’ll also post, I also do share a lot of these recommendations on my pages as I’m reading them, as I’m thinking about them, so yeah, I’ll definitely post some of this there as well.
Vandita
Thank you. I’m sure our listeners would love to stay in touch with you. Would you want to share your social media handles with us?
Sonaksha
Sure. So, you can have a look at some of the work that I do on my website which is sonaksha.com. I post a lot of affirmations, things I’m reading, and just general daily chatter and rants and thoughts on Instagram where I’m at Sonaksha and I also have been posting quite a lot on Twitter (X) where I’m at Sonaksha Iyengar. So yeah, that’s where I’m at on the Internet.
Vandita
Thank you so much for being with us here, Sonaksha. It is an absolute pleasure. And for everyone else, until next time, take care of yourself and stay with us on our journey towards a radically kinder world.
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For more delightful discussions on practicing feminism and fostering communities of care, check out the other episodes of the Nurturing Radical Kindness podcast! Until then, here’s a reflection activity for you to mull over.
| Reflection Activity – Starting with our bodies Take some time to reflect on what you’re reading, what you’re watching, who you’re following. Does it impact the way you see and interact with your body? |
About the Nurturing Radical Kindness Podcast
Radical Kindness is the ethos and practice that forms and informs One Future Collective. It guides our constitution as an organisation and is the core value that guides our work. It is a politics of love, fighting against apathy and hopelessness. Often being ‘hard’, ‘stoic’ or ‘rigid’, is considered crucial for social change, and it is this very notion that radical kindness challenges. It espouses that being kind, compassionate and loving in our activism can still pave the way for dissent, defiance, growth and rebuilding. It is a tool we seek to use to rebuild our systems with care, nurturance and justice at their core. It allows us to hold various stakeholders, including ourselves, accountable in how we interact with ourselves and our communities and to build towards a lived reality of social justice collaboratively.
Hosted by Sanchi Mehra and Vandita Morarka of One Future Collective, this podcast attempts to unpack what it means to be radically kind and how we can practice it through conversations with members of the One Future Collective community.