DEFINE Podcast: Fat Shaming Culture in Media

Gabrielle Bondi

8 years ago

The Young Folks is proud to present a podcast that hopes to take part in the ongoing discussions on diversity in the film and television industry.

DEFINE: Conversations on Hollywood & Diversity is a monthly podcast hosted by yours truly with special guests Allyson Johnson and Melissa Berne. Our goal with DEFINE is to discuss diversity and fair representation on film and television in-depth. We hope to deconstruct stereotypes, inform audiences and do our part to help make our voices louder, so our demands can be heard and seriously considered. We want to encourage audiences to seek out better examples of representation, while also joining us in our fight for equality on-screen, as well as off-screen.

This month’s episode’s theme is the insidious culture of fat-shaming, especially in regards to women, that Hollywood has employed in film and TV since the dawn of its existence. From the media frenzy around Renee Zellweger’s weight gain for Bridget Jones to Rebel Wilson’s character’s relentless potty humor in the Pitch Perfect franchise, we hope to scrutinize why there are so little genuine portrayals of plus size women in media.

We also touch base on recent diversity news with our segments. This includes the “TYF Spectrum Award,” where we each name an individual/studio who made a huge stride recently when it comes to inclusion and fair representation, and “SUPPORT THESE ARTISTS,” our chance to close out the show with recommendations of shows or movies that showcase diverse and inclusive values.

Listen to the episode below.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/284510055″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

SUBSCRIBE TO DEFINE:

Next month, we will be tackling racially diverse films and shows that showcase different types of stories that don’t really on stereotypes. We’ll discuss the new films, like Queen of Katwe and Moonlight, and shows like Jane the Virgin, Master of None, Insecure and Atlanta as well as other recent progressive films and shows. Thanks for listening!