EP87 - Sexuality and Self Image with Sonalee Rashatwar

Welcome to episode 87 of the Sexology Podcast, today I’m joined by Sonalee Rashatwar who talks to us about the concept of sexual colonization and what it means, the ways in which sexuality and low desire can be affected by the societal demands of needing to have “the perfect body” and what we can do to create more body inclusive sex education.

Sonalee Rashatwar (she/they), MSW, LCSW, MEd is an award-winning social worker, sex therapist, adjunct lecturer, and grassroots organizer. Based in Philly, she is a fat queer nonbinary therapist working as a sexual violence crisis counselor, specializing in treating sexual trauma, body image issues, racial or immigrant identity issues, and South Asian family systems, while offering fat and body positive sexual healthcare.

Popularly known as TheFatSexTherapist on Instagram, their fame hit an all time high when they were featured on Breitbart in March 2018 for naming thinness as a white supremacist beauty ideal. Sonalee is a sought-after speaker who travels nationally to curate custom visual workshops that whisper to our changemaking spirit and nourish our vision for a more just future.

Sonalee is not paid for her labor as a community organizer, where she has fundraised and facilitated a free 5-day political action summer camp for LGBT+ South Asian and Indo Caribbean youth. Sonalee received their Master of Social Work and Master of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University in 2016 and have been working in the field of anti-violence for 7+ years.

In this episode, you will hear:

The concept of sexual colonization and what it means

How many different voices and people of different backgrounds haven’t been represented in research

The ways in which sexuality and low desire can be affected by the societal demands of needing to have “the perfect body”

How many people are mis-informed around these issues and what we think should help people, often makes things worse

Recommendations for changing your internal dialogue

What we can do to create more body inclusive sex education

Understanding and knowing your biases around diet culture

Resources

https://www.sonaleer.com

https://www.instagram.com/thefatsextherapist

https://www.facebook.com/oasis2care

https://www.instagram.com/oasis2care

https://twitter.com/oasis2care

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