Welcome to Dismantling Diet Cultured: F*ck Being Calladita

This podcast made the concept of embodiment from my sociology class feel real. I saw how liberation can come from within, especially for people who are often silenced. I appreciated how real and direct the guest was.

After listening to the podcast and the discussion with Xochii De La Noche, I learned more about her life, goals, and struggles she dealt with. In this podcast there seemed to be an emphasis on the importance of mental health and finding a support system. I think this is important because mental health and mental health care can be seen as a stigma much more in a hispanic community. Xochii brought up her experience regarding this, even her parents who are supportive throughout her life, the topic of mental health and the struggles she was dealing with were dealt with anger instead of support. Xochii had to go out of her way in order to seek help in secrecy. Outside of her family she was able to find a community that not only supported her but also led her to discover what she was capable of, this being a Burlesque dancer. For this reason I think it is important not only for people to hear her story but to use it as an example of why there should be easier access for mental health care and how impactful a positive community is. One thing I also thought that was important was the journey and aspirations that Xochii had. Regarding her interest as a child of wanting to be a popstar and how she over time changed her plans. In the end, following her own path of bettering herself she was able to find a career in Burlesques and in a way she achieved her earlier ambitions. r time. Breaking generational trauma can be seen as a challenge to sum, much more for the older generation who may not like or acknowledge one's mental health. A big theme that connects to both somatic therapy and breaking the cycle was the idea of reaching out and looking for resources from self care to access therapy/counseling.

From this podcast I learned that Xochii went to a predominantly white school and struggled with fitting in. She dealt with micro aggressions until she went to middle school and experienced racism and body shaming. People called her fat and called her racial slurs. She mentioned that her family unconsciously added fuel to the fire. Personally, I can relate to this because I know in Latinx culture it’s valued to be thin but at the same time it feels impossible to diet. Something as simple as saying “no” to eating tortillas, will get you asked if you’re on a diet or asked who you’re trying to impress by losing weight. At the same time it’s common amongst Latinx family to call out someone si “estás engordando”. Xochii also mentioned that she was very confident on stage but off stage she struggled with her confidence and self worth because of beauty standards that preferred thin white women. I feel like I can relate to this to some extent because during my childhood and teenhood I did ballet and that included performing on stage. I remember feeling like I was never good enough to be casted for main roles as those roles were given to thin girls with blond hair and blue eyes. I remember for my studio’s Swan Lake performance, the lead was given to a thin blond girl with blue eyes and the black swan (the antagonist) role was given to a girl of color. Even though it’s a main role and anyone should be proud to be casted as the black swan, I questioned why she was chosen and why she wasn’t given the role of the lead white swan since she was extremely talented and had trained at that studio since she was a kid. I feel like I also dealt with micro aggressions, as did Xochii, I’ve always felt uncomfortable being around predominantly white People especially those who are wealthy. I never understood why until my friend pointed out that I was experiencing migro aggression. I mainly experience negative looks and the comments on being “exotic”, excessive questions about my curly hair that don’t feel like they’re coming from a place of curiosity. This episode expressed how important it is to set your own boundaries and be intentional with the community you surround yourself with. The community you choose to associate yourself can help you heal and unlearn societal norms, we don’t have to always be independent, we can rely on our community and uplift each other.

In this episode I have learned that 1) Burlesque is form of dancing which I did not know !! 2) as being a woman we all have had similar situations growing up and finding a way to heal our selfs from it is really important because we can’t get to enjoy our life or even live our life the way we want!