Hi guys and welcome back to another episode of Unfiltered. I say that as if the podcast hasn’t been on hiatus for the past 9 months or so. As many of you would know, I took a break from podcasting after losing my Dad late last year, but have felt really compelled to come back to this format recently.

My return to the podcast is actually thanks to you guys. A few weeks ago, you were repeatedly tagging me in a post by content creator and activist Raffela Mancuso, who created a viral Instagram post commenting on the overwhelming number of thin white women taking up space in the online body positivity community.

As soon as I saw what she had to say, I knew I had to reach out to her and have a conversation. I’m going to read Raffela’s post in this episode, to give you some context for what we’re going to talk about. In the post, she featured and tagged the creators she was talking about. The post absolutely blew up, in both positive and negative ways, but most crucially it sparked an incredibly important conversation about body positivity. What it is, who it’s for and why we need to see more diverse bodies in this space.

So now that you’re familiar with what Raffela had to say, we’re going to chat to her about:

- What motivated her to make such a controversial post and how it was received
- The true definition of body positivity
- The importance of calling people out (or calling them in) on social media
- Receiving criticism for supposedly not supporting other women

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I loved chatting to Raffela. Make sure you go and find her on Instagram, show her some love and support. I’m also going to leave a list of smaller, inspiring body positivity accounts I love and which you should also check out.

Find Raffela here:

IG and Twitter: @raffela_mancuso
YouTube: Raffela Mancuso
FB: Raffela's Journey

Check out these accounts too!:

@thefriendineverwanted
@mollyahiggins
@marquimode
@yrfatfriend
@voluptuousleah
@the_feeding_of_the_fox

The Fragility of Body Positivity
How a Radical Movement Lost Its Way
by Evette Dionne
https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/fragility-body-positivity