Hello Dolly Podcast Dolly Meckler

After reading author and home cook Julia Turshen’s essay about her struggle with diet culture in her new book, Simply Julia, I immediately related. I was so excited to finally speak with a cook for this series, because ideas around food, cooking, and eating quickly become negative when they involve a fat person.

Diet culture’s lingering presence seems to find a way into our everyday lives and, ideas about “health” often get misinterpreted with the idea of “thinness.” Julia’s inspiration for Simply Julia was to write a cook book that did not equate heath with thinness, providing hundreds of recipes for "healthy comfort food." She explained to me that her interpretation of “healthy” has everything to do with freedom - freedom from guilt, restriction, deprivation, and judgment - and nothing to do with weight loss.

Julia shared that growing up, the only two feelings she often experienced were being “happy” or being “fat,” and she’s been working toward understanding that “fat” is not a feeling - she (along with many of us) made it a word that meant anything other than feeling “good.”

I hope you enjoy this conversation with the talented and creative Julia @turshen. I learned a lot from her and promise that you’ll take something away from it.

Follow @turshen for all things food, watch and *share* the full video here on IGTV, listen on Apple Podcasts (link in bio, subscribe!), or stream it on YouTube (link in @hellodolly bio, subscribe!).

p.s. please ignore the technical difficulty of the split screen at the beginning of the episode - technology flops happen!!! Silly me :)

I’ve lived in an overweight body for 17+ years, which has completely shaped how I see the world. You’ve been following me because like it or not, this is the real journey I’ve been on nearly my whole life. My body is the reason I’ve been able to put on a show for everyone, why I’ve always had a larger than life personality, and why I am the way I am. It’s a journey that millions of girls + women navigate everyday, and I hope to help normalize bodies of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

It’s been a while since I posted a You Have Such a Pretty Face conversation, but I am glad to finally be sharing my convo with @nicolebette, the social media director at @11honore, a luxury extended size clothing company. My introduction to 11 Honoré was about two years when I attended their runway fashion show that kicked of #NYFW. It blew my mind. I couldn’t believe I was watching a show where only plus size models were walking. I cried during the show - it never occurred to me that it was even possible to have a fashion show exclusively showcasing plus size women and luxury fashion. I so appreciate how open and honest Nicole was with me during our chat about her experiences with dating, doctors who have fat shamed her, and about raising her daughter. I hope you enjoy this conversation! For more from Nicole, follow @nicole_bette on Instagram and watch the full video on @dollymeckler's IGTV, stream it via YouTube (link in @dollymeckler bio, subscribe!), or listen on Apple Podcasts (link in @hellodolly bio, subscribe!)

I’ve lived in an overweight body for 17+ years, which has completely shaped how I see the world. You’ve been following me because like it or not, this is the real journey I’ve been on nearly my whole life. My body is the reason I’ve been able to put on a show for everyone, why I’ve always had a larger than life personality, and why I am the way I am. It’s a journey that millions of girls + women navigate everyday, and I hope to help normalize bodies of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

As an Italian Jew with a father who worked in food, working in the culinary industry was a no brainer to @empschultz, social media manager at @bonappetitmag. Emily shared her experience growing up around food and how as a young girl she remained unaware of her body size until her thinner peers started talking about their own bodies negatively. We talked about what a typical situation that is - when your thin friends talk about how “fat” they look and how triggering that can be for a fat person. She mentioned how she wants to give more “intentional compliments,” instead of telling people that they look “good” when they look skinny. Good and skinny are not synonymous!! And mega shoutout to Emily’s sister, _princessthicck, who has played such a big role in Emily’s journey to self-acceptance. Follow @empschultz for some major food porn, and watch the full video here, stream it via YouTube (link in bio, subscribe!), or listen on Apple Podcasts (link in @hellodolly bio, subscribe!)

I’ve lived in an overweight body for 17+ years, which has completely shaped how I see the world. You’ve been following me because like it or not, this is the real journey I’ve been on nearly my whole life. My body is the reason I’ve been able to put on a show for everyone, why I’ve always had a larger than life personality, and why I am the way I am. It’s a journey that millions of girls + women navigate everyday, and I hope to help normalize bodies of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

I had been following LA-based comedian Alison Stevenson, @justaboutglad, on Twitter for a couple years - she’s a hilarious Twitter follow. It wasn’t until recently that I started following her on Instagram and I learned about @thickstripent, a body positive strip show on IG. Alison and I talked about what being a fat woman in the comedy space feels like, the power of the male-gaze, and how she’s been able to internally grow into “the Alison that we see on stage,” a confident and body-positive woman. Hope you enjoy our conversation. Follow @justaboutglad, watch the full video here, stream it via YouTube (link in bio, subscribe!), or listen on Apple Podcasts (link in @hellodolly bio, subscribe!)

I’ve lived in an overweight body for 17+ years, which has completely shaped how I see the world. You’ve been following me because like it or not, this is the real journey I’ve been on nearly my whole life. My body is the reason I’ve been able to put on a show for everyone, why I’ve always had a larger than life personality, and why I am the way I am. It’s a journey that millions of girls + women navigate everyday, and I hope to help normalize bodies of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Allow me to introduce to you the hilarious and compassionate @abrianasoll, a Canadian actress and curve model who I had the pleasure to speak with a couple weeks ago. Abriana reminded me how important empathy is and that there is a serious lack of empathy around fat bodies, but if we teach young people how to be empathetic, we can make impactful positive change in the world. We talked about the need for education around fat bodies and body image, about self-acceptance, and about how crucial thin-bodied allies are. Follow @abrianasoll, watch the full video here, stream it on TV via YouTube (link in bio, subscribe!), or listen on Apple Podcasts (link in @hellodolly bio, subscribe!)

And fun fact: I spent my entire childhood at @camptamakwa, a summer camp in Canada, so I have a love for the people of Toronto 3

I’ve lived in an overweight body for 17+ years, which has completely shaped how I see the world. You’ve been following me because like it or not, this is the real journey I’ve been on nearly my whole life. My body is the reason I’ve been able to put on a show for everyone, why I’ve always had a larger than life personality, and why I am the way I am. It’s a journey that millions of girls + women navigate everyday, and I hope to help normalize bodies of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Changing things up a bit this week! I sat down with my FAVORITE former Gender Studies professor from Indiana University, Jen Maher. I graduated with a degree in Gender from IU, and Jen was one of those teachers who really opened up my mind and helped me look at the world more critically. I asked Jen to chat and have a conversation about the gendered ways in which our bodies take up space in the world. Fatness and body size is so tied to femininity specifically and she walks us through that. Through our conversation, you’ll hear about the particular ways in which femininity is coded in taking up a very particular amount of space that is generally supposed to be smaller. Jen gives the example of, “men go to the gym to get bigger, and women go to the gym to get smaller,” which says an enormous amount about proprioception (the awareness of your body in space). Please enjoy this very informative conversation with the brilliant and colorful, Jen Maher.

You can read more from Jen on her website, at www.jenniferelizabethmaher.com