Getting Married Young with Sierra Schultzzie
This week, Hannah sits down with body positivity and fashion vlogger Sierra Schultzzie who married Stephen when she was just 21 years old. Together they discuss what it’s like to marry your childhood sweetheart, avoiding becoming a divorce statistic, battling assumptions about teen relationships and her progressive Christian faith. They also talk about fears that the institution of marriage might muzzle powerful women, the (long) journey to body acceptance, fighting retouching apps and rethinking toxic value systems. Finally, Hannah and Sierra explore how we can be ethical and sustainable consumers whilst staying sane, and ask whether it's actually possible to avoid interacting with problematic brands.
Read the episode transcript here!
SHOW NOTES
What we chat about…
Sierra’s experience of getting married young - she was engaged at 19 and married at 21!
Assumptions about teen relationships, and whether getting married young increases the chances of divorce. How do you avoid becoming part of the ‘50% of marriages end in divorce’ statistic?
How do we know when someone’s the right person? Is Sierra the anomaly for marrying her childhood sweetheart?
What are the right reasons to get married? (and maybe the wrong ones…)
Sierra’s faith and how she her Christianity affects ideas of dating and marriage - is there a link between Sierra’s faith and her young marriage?
UK perceptions of US Christianity and how ‘Christian’ is a loaded word
How the Christian Community has harmed the LGBT+ community, and those that use Christianity to excuse their bigotry. We also chat about Sierra’s progressive Christian faith, and whether her liberal beliefs are unusual for someone of this faith.
How the patriarchy undermines women and their confidence, to try and prevent them from standing up to the patriarchy and taking ownership of their bodies.
Seeing marriage as partnership and teamwork.
How Sierra’s and Hannah’s relationships with their bodies have changed, going from goal weights to valuing their body - but also how this is a continued process, with body positivity being a long road!
How Capitalism cashes in on the Body Positivity movement, and whether it’s possible to escape problematic brands.
How to be a responsible consumer, while not feeling pressured to do everything right - looking at whether responsibility for being more ethical sits with the person or the government (or both!)
Body confidence in the bedroom, and how this is impacted by body confidence outside the bedroom.
Rebelling against retouching apps, and being honest online.
Useful Links
Feminists Don’t Wear Pink: This is a feminist anthology collated by Scarlett Curtis. Buy a copy: https://bit.ly/2L415Gp
Article about Topshop owner Philip Green having the Feminists Don’t Wear Pink display taken down: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/oct/05/topshop-axes-penguin-pop-up-to-promote-feminist-book-in-store
MORE ABOUT SIERRA SCHULTZZIE
Sierra Schultzzie is a body positivity and fashion vlogger! She also created the clothing line, the Curvy Crew, in 2018 to inspire women of all sizes to feel confidence.
Find out more about Sierra on her Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.