Life and Sexuality in a Fat, Black Body with Stephanie Yeboah

Listen to "Life and Sexuality in a Fat, Black Body with Stephanie Yeboah".

In this episode, Hannah is joined by Stephanie Yeboah, who is a plus size style blogger, author, journalist, and content creator. Stephanie discusses her debut book, Fattily Ever After, and the histories of and differences between the fat acceptance and body positive movements. She and Hannah talk about how the body positive movement has changed over the years, as well as discussing dating and the fear of loneliness. Finally, Hannah and Steph discuss the racist stereotypes and assumptions about Black women and their bodies as well as the hypersexualisation of Black women and the desexualisation of fat Black women.

CW: Brief mention of sexual abuse and violence to minors in relation to R Kelly. Timestamps: 34:42 - 35:40.

Read the episode transcript here!

SHOW NOTES

What we chat about…

What was it like writing Fattily Ever After? What has the response been?
The histories of the fat acceptance and the body positive movements
How Steph came across these movements
The idea of “acceptable fat”
Some instigators of the body positive movement starting to feel like it didn’t represent them any more
How Steph feels about people calling her a "body positive" content creator
The term “womxn”
Steph’s feelings about dating and loneliness
People’s dating advice not taking into account that Steph is a fat, Black, darker-skinned womxn
What it's like to have no positive experiences in dating/crushes/relationships
Steph’s Ghanaian background and her family’s expectations about marriage and kids
The hypersexualisation of Black women and their bodies
The desexualisation of fat Black women
Racist stereotypes of Black women in media
Steph’s experience on dating apps
The different results from googling “fat white woman” and “fat Black woman”
The moral panic when Black women reclaim their sexuality
Black children being seen as adults
Diversity in ethical porn
The idea of "fat for pay"
Fat not being the opposite of healthy. Fat not meaning ugly.

Questions from Instagram:

How does Steph feel about white people using the term “body positivity”?
Does Steph worry that she can’t lose weight because of her job/platform?
What are some red flags for body shaming behaviour?

USEFUL LINKS

Steph’s blog post about not wanting to hear about other people’s relationships: https://www.stephanieyeboah.com/2020/07/a-bitter-truth.html
Empire: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3228904/
Gabourey Sidibe: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2829737/
Sarah Baartman: https://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/who-is-sarah-baartman/s9hcds0
WAP music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs
Four Chambers: https://afourchamberedheart.com/

MORE ABOUT STEPHANIE YEBOAH

Stephanie Yeboah is a plus-size style blogger, fat acceptance advocate, freelance writer, public speaker, sometimes-broadcaster and debut author. Find out more: