Like Lizzo: Intersections of Fatness, Blackness, & Femininity

Body Positivity, Black Empowerment, and the Politics of Self-Love

As a Black fat rapper, singer, dancer, and performer, Lizzo simultaneously challenges the conventional image of a performer and becomes a commercial symbol of body positivity. Her message of self-love undeniably resonates with a wide fan base seeking her guidance and inspiration.

Lizzo’s body-positive stance is particularly focused on challenging what the fat studies research define as body terrorism, while some audiences view it as a neoliberal model of self-love that does not confront systemic issues. And how does her recent weight loss play into her narrative of body love and Black women embracing their bodies at any size.

This episode explores how Black fat women's bodies are consumed and utilized for their utility, while broader interactions with other Black fat individuals remain unchanged. Dr. Mary Senyonga is an Assistant Professor of Black Feminisms in Women’s and Gender Studies at Sacramento State University. Her research investigates racial violences in the university, Black student organizing, and the Black fat figure in society. She is currently at work on an extensive project focusing on 1) the impact of the University of California (UC) system on the state of California through archival research and 2) Black women students who attended UCLA during Angela Davis’s dismissal and engaged in varied organizing tactics for change.

To learn more about Dr. Senyonga, click here.

Works by Dr. Senyonga:

• ‘If I’m Shinin’, Everybody Gonna Shine: Toward a Black Fat Femme Centered Politic

• Microaggressions, Marginality, & Mediation at the Intersections: Experiences of Black Fat Women in Academia

• Writing Ourselves into a Just Future: Using Visionary Fiction as a Praxis of Black Feminisms in Higher Education

• Black Women, Gender Nonconforming, and Nonbinary Folks' Resistive & Healing Practices: Making a Way at Traditionally Oppressive Institutions

• Reading and affirming alternatives in the academy: Black fat queer femme embodiment

THIS PODCAST WILL BE AVAILABLE JUNE 9, 2025.

Season 2 Episode 12

Running Time:  28 minutes