Episode 8: Armando, Michaël & Graeme
*Content Warning: Discussions of gendered violence, sexism, and eating disorders.
Welcome to another episode of Rebelliously Tiny. Here’s this week’s question: “I'm 15 and my good friend at school is male and anorexic, many people shame him for this because 'male' and 'anorexic' don't seem to match in today's society sadly. There's also a girl with anorexia but people give her support, I assume because she's female. I was wondering if you knew of anything I could do for people at my school to view males with mental health illnesses differently?”
This week, Ambivalently Yours reaches out to her friends Armando and Michaël, a married couple, and to her partner Graeme, for help responding to this question. In this “double date” podcast episode, we talk about allyship, mental health, body image and its relationship to gender norms. The two couples became friends after discussing these topics, and wanted to think through this question together. We also explore the implications of gender roles in society, and our guests speak to their own experiences with masculinity and femininity as defined by mainstream culture. In addition, we think about when and how we could be including different voices into these discussions, while also making space for specificity within social justice.
A podcast by Ambivalently Yours
Co-produced by Hannah McCasland
Recorded at (with their technical and financial support) Oboro Arist-Run Center in Montreal
Technical support: Stéphane Claude
Music: Greg Barkley