IWeigh Podcast
Review by Tabitha Floyd
The ‘I Weigh’ podcast was created by British actress, radio presenter, model, writer and activist; Jameela Jamil. She created the ‘I Weigh’ movement in 2018 with a single Instagram post to push back against society’s hyper fixation on weight and appearance. The ideas was to allow people to express their achievements and traits they take pride in rather than just their appearance at face value. The post was in direct opposition to a Kardashian post which contained a picture with numbers written across the bodies of each member of the family. These numbers turned out to be their weight in kilograms. Many of their followers are young teenage girls and to see these kind of beauty standards that are near impossible to reach can reinforce the idea of an ‘ideal’ body weight and spark eating disorders. Following Jameela's example, people began to post pictures of themselves with the hashtag #iWeigh and instead of showing their weight in kilograms, they would surround it with the qualities they valued most in themselves such as their kindness, bravery, compassion etc.
The success of this movement led to Jameela beginning her podcast iWeigh. Jameela and her guests openly discuss many issues that are often taboo in normal conversations, ranging from; mental illness, social media, LGBTQ+ issues to body positivity and how to navigate our modern world. She confronts society’s warped definition of worth, which is so often based on weight and appearance, by asking different performers, activist and influencers about how they’re working through their past shames to find where their value truly lies. With witty and poignant conversations about vulnerability and acceptance, iWeigh amplifies and empowers diverse voices in an accessible way in order to celebrate progress and learning, rather than perfection. Not striving for, nor expecting perfection, is one of her key messages which allows everyone in the room to grow, to not only admit their mistakes but expect to make them and learn from them in the future. She uses the motto ‘progress not perfection’ which perfectly sums up her way of listening and learning, not only on the podcast but in every aspect of her career.
One of my favourite episodes features actor, Dashaun Wesley, during which they discuss the ballroom scene and how to embrace your true self in a world that doesn’t necessarily want you to. One of my favourite quotes from the episode was;
“I’m always about, self, self-joy, self-abundance of who you are and how you feel and what you do. No one can shift that unless you allow them to. And once you do, you already given them the power.”
Dashaun is such an engaging man and listening to his complete rejection of shame is so inspiring for so many. This episode perfectly sums up the diverse and self-accepting nature of this fantastic podcast.
Here are some recommendations for those who enjoyed this podcast:
- Website - I weigh
https://iweighcommunity.com/stories/
- Podcast - The Guilty Feminist
- Book - Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies
