Women of My Generation

This week, Fanny Beckman speaks to Sarah Best about ableism, living with cerebral palsy and her work towards challenging prejudices around disabilities. We also talk about how Sarah has gained confidence thanks to her service dog, how her disability affects her body image and how she learnt to take up space and speak up when faced with ignorant comments. You can follow Sarah's important work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edison_365_sd/ To see more of Fanny's multimedia project Women of My Generation, visit https://www.instagram.com/feckman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we listen to Simona Georgieva's story of struggling with her mental health and how it affected her physically. The society we live in thinks that women always strive to lose weight but in many cases it stems from medical conditions which people are unaware of. We'll also get to hear how growing up in Israel has affected her: her choice of education as a journalist, the trauma that the conflict caused her and the last couple of months' constant fear of losing family members and friends. Simona is an advocate for open conversations and helping other people get through difficult situations. Hear all her valuable insights and tips in this week's episode of Women of My Generation. https://www.instagram.com/feckman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first time I took photos of Charys for Women of My Generation was in February 2019. It was a pretty shy and insecure woman I had in front of me. Therefore, it was pure joy to revisit Charys and to see a confident and outspoken woman. Today you'll hear Charys speak about her journey towards self acceptance. We also discuss online fatphobia, people's obsession of the word 'healthy' and reclaiming fat as a neutral description. To see the Instagram posts mentioned in the episode (and the size inclusive brands Charys loves) please visit her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babyguerrilla/ To see the result of our photoshoot, head to mine: https://www.instagram.com/feckman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, I speak to fellow artist and photographer Funso Foluso-Henry. Apart from running Ata Rodo - an art collective curating exhibitions for black women and women of colour, she also works as a model. We speak about the weight obsession within this industry, as well as tokenism and how the black lives matter movement affected her career. To get involved with Ata Rado, please visit their website https://www.atarodolondon.com and send them an email on hello@atarodolondon.com To see the photo of Funso mentioned in the episode, please visit my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feckman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Freelance writer Katie Baskerville does not shy away from topics that have historically been stigmatised. She writes articles for magazines such as The Stylist, Cosmopolitan and The Flock, and educates her readers about PCOS, female pleasure, abusive relationships and eating disorders. Apart from all of this, we also discuss bi visibility, imposter syndrome and how coming from a working class background has affected her sex safety. To find the articles mentioned above, please visit her instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambaskerville/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tilda Allie is a singer and producer focusing on female empowerment. In this episode, we discuss how feminism has changed during the the last decades, about seeking validation on social media and about the importance of showing vulnerability to be able to form close relationships with others. We talk about Tilda's music career, her history of eating disorders and about breaking norms and being loud and opinionated in a society that teaches women otherwise. To see more of Tilda Allie, please go to her Instagram and find her on Spotify: https://www.instagram.com/tildaallie/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the founder of clothing brand Ilk & Ernie, Jess has a lot of knowledge about sustainable and ethical fashion. Hear her share all the insights and educate us on the correlation between climate changes and feminism, and the importance of knowing where your clothes come from. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we listen to a young mother's perspective on raising a daughter to become a fearless girl, in a society that teaches us otherwise. We talk about safety in public spaces, breaking the chain of disordered eating and the importance of good role models. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot has happened since 2019 when I first met Alice to discuss her journey from a diet blogger to body confidence advocate. Not only has she improved her relationship with her own body, but she’s also educating and inspiring thousands of people to do the same. Hear her tips on how to get there and why it’s important to question the diet culture we live in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sheena Howard is a multimedia artist focusing on using her platform to raise awareness of underrepresented topics. In this series finale, hear Sheena talk about her work surrounding the black queer community, her latest book Nina's Whisper which highlights domestic abuse within same sex relationships, and finding confidence to break norms in a predominantly white industry.

Once again we are reminded of the importance of representation to get a good self esteem. In this episode, hear Bailie McGloin share her journey from struggling to accept her skin condition Vitiligo, to now providing the representation she missed when growing up, by modelling for big brands.

By questioning weight bias in her own profession, Dr Ali Zentner changes the view on obesity within the health sector. In this episode, hear her raise awareness of the diet culture's affect on medical treatment, challenge Fanny Beckman's own prejudice of her field and listen to her thoughts on how we can make this society a better and more inclusive place.

The male gaze has always been a hot topic within the feminist movement. With the rise of social media, it is now possible to affect people's perception of you, as well as choosing when to be sexualised. In this episode, Ellie Chaplin tells us how taking undressed photos of herself impacts her self esteem, and how masturbation has improved her relationship with her body.

Trigger Warning: Descriptive language of eating disorders.Living in a diet culture is confusing and frustrating, and it can be difficult to understand various conditions and terminology surrounding disordered eating. Luckily, Dr Sophie Edwards is here to clarify the differences between different eating disorders, how to start eating intuitively and debunking the BMI myth. You can find more information about her work at:https://drsophieedwards.com/.

The stigma surrounding periods leads to physical and mental health issues. As the founder of the startup company Yoppie, Daniella Peri does not only provide organic sanitary products but also helps to challenge the global attitudes towards periods - something you will get to be a part of by listening to this episode.

Jessica Sharville is a talented illustrator, combining her art with feminism. In this episode she shares her creative process, talks about how she started to question sexualisation in her subculture and her long fight to get breast reductions. Find Jess' art at: https://www.instagram.com/jessicasharvilleillustration/.

Trigger Warning: Descriptive language of eating disorders. A lot of people struggle with anxiety due to the current lockdown; in this episode Fanny and Michelle talk about how this situation can affect people's relationship to food and what you can do to cope with your worries. They also talk about going from binge eating to intuitive eating.

Trigger Warning: Descriptive language of eating disorders. Alice Reeves is an ambassador for Beat - an organisation that works with supporting people suffering from eating disorders, and prevents it from happening to more. As a survivor of Orthorexia, Alice has unique insights in this illness and what it does to people, and today she educates us on this difficult condition.

Trigger Warning: Descriptive language of physical and emotional abuse. Ellie Ruewell lacked confidence from an early age, and later struggled to leave an abusive relationship due to negative self esteem. She talks openly about what this relationship did to her, why she couldn't leave and how it has affected her. We also talk about her journey to self acceptance, taking ownership of your body and social media's censorship of female nipples.

Trigger Warning: Descriptive language surrounding eating disorders and sexual assault.Ace is back, and this time we focus on illnesses developed after years of fasting. She also educates us on PCOS - a health condition that affects 1 in 5 women in the UK, but is a mystery to many.To learn more about Ace, visit her instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aslaugsifgudjonsdottir/.

Sarah Stevens runs the Beautifull Project which helps women get comfortable and stop apologising for ourselves. Watch her TedX talk to get a deeper understanding of her important work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y12HpNKvobE. In this episode, Sarah and Fanny discuss the correlation between feeling confident in your body and taking up space in the society.

Most people aim for a healthy lifestyle, but the word healthy has to include mental health. In this episode, Fanny and Loriane talk about finding balance between exercising and a peaceful mind. How can we avoid considering ourselves a failure when we don't achieve society's beauty standards?

In this episode, Women of My Generation's founder, Fanny Beckman, talks about how it all started: from getting her first camera at the age of 4, to discovering the feminist movement in her teens, and how she nowadays spend her time combining photography with feminist activism.

In this episode, makeup artist Sofaya Hussein shares her view on the beauty industry, companies making inclusive shades of foundations, as well as using the word fat and embracing her feminine side.

Trigger Warning: Descriptive language surrounding eating disorders and sexual assault. Ace grew up with parents struggling with disordered eating, and consequently developed a negative body image herself. At the age of 10 she was forced to fast, which has given her health issues later in life. Hear her talk about older generations projecting eating disorders onto their children, and what we can do to prevent this from happening to younger generations.

When having to choose whether to get a wax or to buy food, Bethany realised how much impact beauty standards had on her. Hear us talk about female body hair, getting comfortable in our own skin and finding comfort in sisterhood.

Trigger Warning: Descriptive language surrounding anorexia and mental health, and losing family members. To learn more about eating disorders, please visit: www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk. After losing her mum, Alice Leverton developed anorexia nervosa as a coping mechanism. Hear her talk about grief, mental health issues and what healthy tools she uses today to deal with her trauma.

Her clothes has been worn by Lizzo, Tess Holliday and Sofie Hagen and last year she won the Prince's Trust Award for her plus size fashion brand Plus Equals. Hear Jazmin Lee talk about her inspiring journey from struggling to identify with the fashion industry's beauty norms, to setting her own rules to keep her love for making clothes alive.

Statistics show that women on average spend 30 years of their lifetime thinking about their bodies. In this episode, Fanny Beckman meets Hermione Berendt to discuss how activism has helped them both finding a bigger purpose in life, and how it has helped them avoid thinking about appearance.

As the organiser of Free the Nipple Brighton, Bee Nicholls shares her thoughts on the sexualisation of women's bodies and female nipples, about censorship and a society post #metoo, as well as giving inspiring advice on how to start a political movement.

Alice Dunbar has a unique insight in two opposite worlds and ideals: promoting a toxic diet culture in 2015, and writing about body confidence in 2019. In this episode you will hear her talk about the shame she feels about her past, how she managed to quit dieting and her best advice on how to tackle the obsession of the "perfect body" in the new year.