#201: Body Image, Race & Gender - with Savala Nolan

Eat the Rules with Summer Innanen

I’m interviewing Savala Nolan, author of Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body. We’re talking about Savala’s story of growing up Black, Mexican, and white, and thin and fat, how she navigated these intersections, and always feeling like she was “in-between.” We also talk about how our culture glorifies violence against women, how she’s trying to teach her daughter about race and gender, and what it was like to discover her lineage and ties to chattel slavery. Show notes: summerinnanen.com/201 In this episode, we chat about: - What inspired Savala to write her book: Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body,

- How dieting can be passed down through generations, - How letting go of fitting in to one of the categories that our culture has built can allow you to come home to yourself, - Her experience learning about her family history and the challenging feelings that came out of it, - That when you have a body that is fundamentally marginalized by your community, whatever privilege you can eke out is not as strong as it would be for someone who is not in a marginalized body, - How Savala is teaching her daughter about her identity and her body, Plus so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/201