Episode #9
Is Anti-Fat Bias Making Us Sick? | Big Sexy Chat with Ragen Chastain
Send us Fan Mail What if the stigma surrounding fat bodies is itself a health issue? Chrystal sits down with writer, speaker, patient advocate, and weight-stigma educator Ragen Chastain for a deep conversation about anti-fat bias, healthcare, BMI, medical research, GLP-1 medications, weight-loss culture, racism, and the ways the weight-loss industry shapes the conversation around fat bodies. We talk about why shame doesn't work, why “everybody knows” isn't evidence, who gets represented in medical research, how BMI became so influential, and what happens when healthcare systems are built around assumptions about fat bodies. Ragen also talks about her work with Louise Adams on Exposing Obesity Incorporated , a podcast examining the weight-loss industry's influence and messaging. Most importantly, we talk about what happens when we stop treating fat bodies as problems that need to be fixed. Your body is not wrong. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome + Ragen Chastain 02:31 Is Anti-Fat Bias Making People Sick? 03:27 Why Shame Doesn't Work 04:52 The Weight-Loss Industry's Playbook 07:22 Exposing Obesity Incorporated 09:04 “Oh Please” 10:14 Industry Influence 11:24 Weight Stigma & Healthcare Inequality 13:20 Repetition & “Common Knowledge” 14:04 Anti-Stigma as Marketing 15:14 Fat Patients & Medical Bias 17:14 Educating Healthcare Providers 19:06 GLP-1s 20:37 Cortisol & Stress 22:15 Racism & Anti-Blackness 23:09 Medical Research & Fat Bodies 24:46 The “150-Pound White Guy” Problem 27:25 “Everybody Knows” 28:36 Is Fatness a Disease? 30:31 Genetics & Weight Regain 31:41 The History of BMI 34:00 The Origins of Weight-Loss Culture 35:08 The Lifelong Disease Narrative 36:07 Moving the Goalposts 38:35 Informed Consent 39:15 Race, BMI & Anti-Fatness 40:30 Fighting Your Body vs. Fighting Stigma 42:20 Weight-Stigma Research & Industry Funding 43:29 Find Ragen 45:16 Catching Up 47:00 Goodbye Support the show BigSexyChat.com appreciates you and our community. We do this for you, so if you ever have any ideas about a subject we can discuss for you, email us at bigsexychatpod@gmail.com. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram as BigSexyChat. Twitter (who knows how long we will stay there) is BigSexyChatPod Check out our merch at www.BigSexyTees.com (credit to Toni Tails for setting this up for us!) Chrystal also sells sex toys via her website BlissConnection.com and you can use the code BSC20 for 20% off. Big thanks to our Sponsor Liberator Bedroom Adventures . We ADORE the products from Liberator. And, to be clear, we all loved their products even before they became a sponsor!
