It Should Be Illegal To Talk About People's Bodies
A list of recommendations that are accidentally only about Beyoncé and Oprah
First of all, happy Cowboy Carter to all who celebrate. My favorite internet is the internet after a Beyoncé album release. Like everyone, I’m listening, I’m digesting, my cells are rearranging. Thrilled for all the Nashville women on this album.
ICYMI: I reviewed the Renaissance tour stop in Nashville last summer.
I’m still thinking about Brandon Taylor’s essay sugar in the blood and this quote: “… you people need to release the cops in your minds.” I wrote about it here.
I heard Nicole Byer on Las Culturistas this week and she said a version of what Taylor said. In her “I Don’t Think So Honey” segment (starts here at 1:20 and picks back up at 1:31), she jokes about how it should be illegal to talk about people’s bodies. She says how people are mad when you’re fat and then mad when you lose weight; how ultimately no one should say anything about people’s bodies.
Then a day or so later I heard Busy Philipps on Lovett or Leave It also talking about this. I don’t know if she’s 100% right, but it’s a take I haven’t heard before (starts here at 29:50). It’s a (comedy) segment where Lovett is asking Philipps what makes a woman and he asks her, “Is a woman an animal that is ready to move from body positivity to body neutrality?” Philipps starts talking about how, for years, no one has said anything about all these middle-aged men taking HGH to manipulate their bodies for roles or Marvel movies, but now that women are doing it, everyone is so mad. It’s meant to be funny, but … she’s not wrong!
The two best think pieces I’ve read about Oprah are from Tressie McMillan Cottom and Kate Manne.
Cottom’s piece in the New York Times (gift link) touches on the cultural importance of Oprah. She writes, “ ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ went into national syndication in 1986. I was 10 years old. That means I have been in a psychosocial relationship with Oprah’s weight-loss struggles for longer than I have been an adult.”
I was also 10 years old in 1986, so this framing is helpful in unpacking why I feel connected to (and sometimes defensive of) Oprah.
In a Substack titled Calling Obesity a Disease is a Classic Move in Pharmaceutical Profiteering Manne goes in hard on what calls the “moral ills of diet culture.” If you’re fat or plus-size and not feeling great right now watching everyone shrink before your eyes, Manne’s essay may help. It helped me.
Bonus: Manne has a book!
And now, if you’ll indulge me. Here are some links to things I’ve written recently.
If you’re a person who listens carefully to music, you’ve likely heard Sampha. I discovered him on Solange’s A Seat at the Table and have been hooked ever since. He played Brooklyn Bowl on Friday and I spoke to him for the Nashville Scene about his new album, becoming a father and much more.
I wrote about The Plus Closet for the Nashville’s Scene’s annual Style Issue.
I've loved Jenny Lewis' music for half of my life. I jumped at the chance to write about her show at the Ryman for the Nashville Scene. I hope you'll click through to read what I wrote and to see the amazing photos Emily April Allen took of the show.
If you're like me, you probably follow (and thoroughly enjoy) Nashville History X on Instagram. I recently met the person behind the popular account and profiled her for the Nashville Scene's annual People Issue. Meet Fleur!
Thanks for being here!
excellent nail color and design!