[PREVIEW] Can A Body Acceptance Advocate Work for Weight Watchers?

Welcome to Indulgence Gospel After Dark!

We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and it's time for your October Extra Butter episode.

Today we're talking about plus size fashion influencer and body acceptance advocate Katie Sturino — who teamed up with WeightWatchers last year. What happened there? And where is the line between body liberation activism and capitalism? (Yes, we struggle with that too!)

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Episode 217 Transcript

Corinne

Welcome to Indulgence Gospel After Dark! If you're listening to this, you are part of Extra Butter, which means you're our favorite Burnt Toasties.

Virginia

Your support makes all our work possible and keeps Burnt Toast an ad- and sponsor free space. Which is relevant to today's conversation!

Corinne

Today, we're going to talk about influencer and advocate Katie Sturino, who became famous on Instagram for her #SuperSizeTheLook content and for creating the Megababe product line. But more recently, she teamed up with Oprah and Weight Watchers, and has gone public about her use of GLP-1s.

Virginia

So before we get into it, let me do my standard caveat that I give anytime we do one of these episodes where we talk about a particular person's work in deal. Body autonomy is a given at Burnt Toast. Katie has the right to take her GLP-1s. That is her business. We're not interrogating that personal decision. We are also not "women tearing down other women," which is the other go-to critique of this work.

We're considering Katie's entire body of work here, and we're asking: Is this true body liberation activism? Or is this an example of capitalism co-opting activism? I think that's a valuable question for anyone in the influencing space to be grappling with. I think Corinne and I both walk that line as well in our work. So we are going to critique Katie and some of the professional choices she's made but this is a lens we all benefit from looking through.

Corinne

With that, I feel that I need to disclose that I have received gifted products from Megababe.

Virginia

For example! It’s a gray area, guys. I have not, but I would have been happy to receive that gift.

Corinne

I recommended stuff from Megababe before I ever received free stuff! But I have received free stuff. And I do like some of their products. 

Virginia

This episode is also not going to be a critique of specific products. Preventing thigh chafing is a noble endeavor.

So how did you first encounter Katie Sturino? Do you remember when you first became aware of her work?

Corinne

It's honestly hard for me to remember because I feel like she's been around for so long!

Virginia