Welcome to Everybody is a Babe!

The Everybody Is a Babe Workshop is a 4-week online intensive with synchronous classes where we examine the mechanisms that create & perpetuate body shame and work to develop tools to counter those harmful narratives with thoughtful exercises, group activities, readings, and guest seminars.

By using different methods of compassion to deepen our self-awareness and awareness of the world around us, we will attempt to bridge the gap between what our values are and how we view & treat our bodies. This work is intersectional, because bodies are intersectional!

I hope that together, we will try to more deeply understand the experience of people in marginalized bodies, the importance of intersectionality, how weight stigma affects fat people and harms us all, why systems of oppression continue to exist, and how we might imagine a new world for all marginalized bodies. I think it is necessary to recognize that these systems are rooted in white supremacist patriarchy in order to deconstruct them internally (i.e., “what biases do I have and what unacknowledged conclusions might I be drawing about myself or others?”). The second half of the workshop is devoted to self-work, reflection, and to introduce new ways of thinking about food, movement, and our own behaviors. I believe that as we do our best to shift the paradigm, we also have to survive and learn how to feel good in a world that tells most of us that we are not worthy of it. I encourage all of us to be in the pursuit of collective liberation!

If you are exhausted with diet culture and ready to try something new, this workshop is for you.

What is included in the workshop?

A whole lotta shit. We will meet on Zoom twice a week, where classes will alternate with a lecture & discussion. Lectures will offer an introduction and breakdown of the concepts, materials and assignments, and a writing exercise or two. On discussion days, we will meet in small groups to get to know each other, talk about the week's assignments, and share FEELINGS.

You will also be invited to the private Everybody Is a Babe Facebook Group where you can meet each other, talk informally about class, and make friends!

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between the workshop and the course?

The workshop is a 4-week intensive with community collaboration and connection. We meet over zoom and it's a blast! The self-paced course is for folks who simply don't have the time to connect for the synchronous classes, or who would rather do this work independently.

When does the workshop meet and what do I need to join?

This is a virtual workshop that meets twice a week on Zoom. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons, we will meet for synchronous classes. You will need a notebook or somewhere to record your thoughts and participate in the exercises.

The schedule is as follows:
WED MAY 29th | 5pm PST/8pm EST
SUN JUNE 2nd | 12pm PST/3pm EST
WED JUNE 5th | 5PM PST/8PM EST
SUN JUNE 9th | 12PM PST/3PM EST
WED JUNE 12th | 5PM PST/8PM EST
SUN JUNE 16TH | 12PM PST/3PM EST
WED JUNE 19th | 5PM PST/8PM EST
SUN JUNE 23rd | 12PM PST/3PM EST

I also recommend that you have someone in your support system (a therapist, close friend, partner) that can help you decompress or further process some things that may come up for you during this work. Often when excavating our personal relationships with diet culture, we realize the pain goes beyond cultural or social-- issues with food or body image may be a component of the pain we have, but often the real shit is rooted in the stories we've been taught by those closest to us.

Should I stop seeing my therapist?

NO! I'm not a therapist and this is not a substitute for mental health treatment. If you are seeing a therapist, talk to them about issues you might be having with body shame! If you are considering taking the course, tell them about it! I bet they will have some great insight about how to support you.

Will you offer this workshop again?

This is the only workshop for 2024, but I will offer another workshop in 2025. If the timing does not work for you, consider enrolling in the self-paced course!

What is the refund policy?

If you change your mind before the first class, you will be refunded in full. If you are unhappy with the workshop after the first class, you are welcome to withdraw and will be given a 50% refund. The self-paced course will not be refunded.

Are there scholarships available?

Yes! I accept applications on a rolling basis, so there are quite a few applicants from previous cycles, but if you need financial help, please reach out and I will do everything I can to help. Doing this work shouldn't be prohibitively expensive, so I have tried to price the workshop fairly. If you're able to pay 50%, please let me know in your application, it would be much appreciated. Though scholarships are awarded to many different kinds of people, preference is given to BIPOC, trans and non-binary folks, people in bigger bodies, and people with disabilities. Please fill out this questionnaire to apply. Scholarships for the self-paced course are not available.

Is this the same workshop that you previously offered?

Yes, this is the same workshop. If you attended previous workshops, you have a lifetime membership to the babedom and you are welcome to participate as many times as you'd like.

Is this only for fat people? Or women?

Not at all. Body shame lives in people of all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages. While the workshop does have a focus on marginalized bodies and primarily centers fat experiences, I find that examining and working to dismantle our internalized anti-fat bias is something that benefits our collective liberation. Regardless of our own size, we are conditioned to see larger bodies as a moral failure and to fear fatness—usually under the guise of beauty, desirability, and "health". Those fears and anxieties lead to body shame, body dysmorphia, and disordered eating for people of all sizes.

I have found that using my own lived experience is the most helpful and authentic way to facilitate this work. If you are somebody, you are a babe! And you deserve to feel radical self love!

If I take the workshop, do I have to attend the classes or discussions?

If you can make it, you totally should. Discussion days are community oriented, and most folks say the group hangs are the best part! But if you can't or if Zoom freaks you out, that's 100% OK. You'll still have access to the educational videos, materials and the Facebook group.

Are you a medical professional?

Nope! I am a singer/songwriter/poet who is also a fat person! I have done years of research for my own growth and body healing journey (and book!), and I am constantly asked "what worked for you?" This workshop is meant to be an answer to that question. I intend this work to be a collaborative experience; to introduce concepts and texts from actual professionals while you build community with other folks who are on a similar journey. Consider me your cheesecloth for body positive concepts, exercises, and books. This workshop is intended to be educational– not to treat physical or mental illness. Please consult a licensed service provider if you need help.

If you are battling an active eating disorder, are in recent recovery, or feel that participating in discussions about food, exercise, or body shame may disrupt your healing rather than help, please consult with your recovery team before enrolling.

What principles are you going to cover?

This workshop is strongly anti-diet. With very rare exceptions, I believe intentional weight loss is essentially a prescription for disordered eating. I believe in creating a new approach to health where weight is a neutral component. You are more than welcome in this space even if you are pursuing weight loss or thinking about pursuing weight loss—in fact, I highly recommend this workshop to evaluate if intentional weight loss is truly serving your long-term goals. While openness & vulnerability in this group is foundational, openly discussing active weight loss pursuits is antithetical to this work.

In this workshop, we examine the current systemic and cultural treatment of marginalized bodies, the historical treatment of marginalized bodies, how weight stigma affects opportunities and access for fat people, how fatness is a mechanism of white supremacy, how capitalism plays a key role in body shame, how intersectionality is essential to this work, and how we might imagine a new world for all marginalized bodies. We begin with an external lens initially, because it’s important to see how oppressive systems manipulate us to be consumed with our own perceived failure–ultimately, none of us should need a workshop like this, and yet, so many of us do. That alone should be a red flag that the systems we are subjected to are not working!

The second half of the workshop is devoted to self-work, reflection, and to introduce new ways of thinking about food, movement, and our own behaviors. I will be using the principles of HAES, intuitive eating, joyful movement, mindfulness, meditation, and CBT to guide us through the Great Unlearning!

What if I have don't have any negative body issues?

First of all: BABE! WE STAN! YES BODY LOVE! YES RADICAL SELF LOVE!

This workshop is geared more toward folks who will be learning new tools, rather than seasoned self love pros, but sometimes a refresher can be helpful!

Is this workshop good for teenagers?

I would have loved to attend this workshop when I was in high school; it might have saved me from some really harmful behaviors!

We have had a few parents actually enroll with their teens which I find is often the ideal situation, because the anti-diet language and approach is still considered fairly radical, and teens struggling with body image need all the support they can get. Caveats: I swear a fair amount, and there are a few exercises/resources that include nudity and discuss some adult topics. During discussion days, participants do talk in their own groups unmoderated. Additionally, the facebook group is not heavily monitored either, and adult topics may occasionally pop up.These things are easy to opt out of, but it's best if you give me or my workshop coordinator a heads up that you/your teen is under 18 if you do enroll.