We've reached out to folks from across the globe to bring together a variety of perspectives on what 'body riot' means, what it looks like, what it rebels against, and what it offers to the world and us as individuals.
Many of these wonderful humans dedicate their life and work to helping others resist the oppressive and harmful messaging of diet culture and fat phobia.
Some of them don't work directly on body liberation but their work encapsulates the freedom and pleasure that we dream and imagine for a post-diet culture world.
A few more exciting speakers to be announced in the coming weeks!
Ragen Chastain (she/her)
Ragen Chastain is a speaker, writer, and thought leader in the fields of Body Image, Health at Every Size, Corporate Wellness, and Weight Stigma in healthcare, eating disorders community, and fitness.
Author of the popular blog danceswithfat, the book Fat: The Owner's Manual, and editor of the anthology The Politics of Size, Ragen is a three-time National dance champion and two-time marathoner who holds the Guinness World Record for Heaviest Woman to Complete a Marathon. Ragen lives in LA with her partner and their two adorable dogs.
Dr Joy Arlene Renee Cox (she/her)
Dr. Joy Cox is a body justice advocate and author of the book 'Fat Girls in Black Bodies: Creating Communities of Our Own'. using her skill set in research and leadership to foster social change through the promotion of fat acceptance and diversity and inclusion. With 38 years living as a fat, Black cis-gendered woman and 7+ years of professional experience under her belt, Dr. Cox draws on her own experiences and skillset to amplify the voices of those most marginalised in society.
Kareem Arthur (she/her)
Kareem Arthur is a food writer from London and creator of The Healing Table, a space for women to cook, share and eat. Kareem hosts bi-monthly Cook Clubs with a group of women, as well as writing Woman and Food, a series of interviews exploring women who cook and their emotional and cultural connections with food.
Kareem will be joining us to speak about the cultural and mental health impacts of cooking, as well as leading a live cooking club (ingredient list will be sent out 2 weeks in advance of the event).
Tai Ibitoye (she/her)
Tai Ibitoye is a UK Registered Dietitian, Health Writer and Nutrition Researcher. She has over 7 years of experience working within the food and nutrition field – working within the NHS, public health organisations, non-government organisations, academia and research.
Vanessa Rochelle Lewis (she/her)
Born and raised in South Central, Los Angeles, Vanessa Rochelle Lewis (MFA) is a Queer, Fat, Black, Femme performer, facilitator, educator, writer, activist, healer, joyful weirdo, and Faerie Princess Mermaid Gangsta for The Revolution. She is the Founding Director of Reclaim UGLY: Uplift Glorify Love Yourself – And Create A World Where Others Can As Well!
Evie Fehilly (she/her)
Have you ever wanted to bring toys into your love lives but not known where to start? The world of s3x toys can feel really overwhelming and vast and that's not even including the ones that are shaped like Penguins! Cum and Join Evie Fehilly as she shares her experience of years of helping people find the right toy or maybe the right toy box for them. A workshop packed with tips, tricks, games and advice. It will be an hour of fun that will demystify the world of toys and help you feel comfortable and empowered in using them.
It’s not an event without a quiz! Join us for the collaboration everybody and nobody has been waiting for! Quizzy Quiz Quiz have been putting on hilarious quizzes throughout lockdown 1, 2 & 3 in their virtual pub, 'The LockInn', and we're delighted to welcome them to the Body Riot Weekender. There will be 6 question and video rounds of pure silliness from movies, pop culture and ridiculous trivia. This is high fun (not high brow!). Expect terrible singing, medium production value and plenty of lockdown hair. Where else should you be?
Scottee (he/they) & more panellists TBA
Molly Forbes (she/her)
Molly Forbes is a 37 year old former journalist who now works as a writer, campaigner and speaker on the subject of body image, especially in children. Molly's debut book Body Happy Kids came out this month and in March this year she launched The Body Happy Org CIC, a social enterprise dedicated to promoting positive body image in children through workshops and classes for parents and teachers, resources, books and advocacy programmes.
Harri & Becky (she/her) | Anti Diet Riot Club
Join Anti Diet Riot Club co-directors and kitchen disco enthusiasts Harri Rose & Becky Young for a riot club party lockdown-style. Leaning in to the restorative power of joyful movement, expect an hour of guided silly dancing and super-easy aerobics to the ultimate feel good music. Grab your pots and pans because the tune won't just be banging, so will the dance moves!
Dr Natasha Larmie (she/they)
Natasha is a short fat middle aged GP who is campaigning against weight stigma in the healthcare profession. She believes we should all be practicing weight inclusive healthcare and that you can be healthy at any size. She believes that our current weight normative approach is responsible for the declining health of the nation and that weight is not something you have much control over.
Lacey Haines (she/her)
Lacey Haynes is a British-Canadian educator, birth coach, yoga teacher and visionary who has guided dozens of online classes taken by tens of thousands of people worldwide. She teaches women and feminine essence people to connect to their bodies by understanding, healing and accessing their sexual energy for creative liberation and full power living.
Emily Rose Yates (she/her)
Emily is a pink-haired wheelchair user with cerebral palsy. She is an accessibility consultant, journalist and passionate about campaigning for access to sexual expression for disabled people, having worked with Enhance the UK and managed their Undressing Disability Campaign.
Caleb Luna (they/them) & more speakers TBA
Caleb Luna is a fat queer (of color) critical theorist, artist, and performance scholar. As an activist political thinker, they are interested in engaging embodied difference as a generative resource toward fatter understandings of collective freedom.
Allé K (they/he)
Allé K is a queer, fat, trans masc-ish activist, educator and certified Yoga Instructor. He provides LGBTQIA+ inclusive, trauma-informed, fat positive yoga classes online. Allé is a spaceholder, a connector and a disruptor. His classes centre people who are usually left out of the traditional yoga spaces like queer, trans, fat and neuro-divergent folks.
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