Afua Hirsch: “Nobody gets to police our bodies!” How to reject beauty trends
Happy Place24 Feb 2025

Afua Hirsch: “Nobody gets to police our bodies!” How to reject beauty trends

Do you get rid of your body hair? Do you hate your periods? Are you debating a nose job? Why? Writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch has been tracing how we’ve become so loathing of our bodies.

In this chat with Fearne, Afua explains where our modern, Western notions of beauty come from, and why she’s advocating for us to celebrate how powerful our bodies are.

She’s rediscovering and reclaiming rituals her ancestors will have done before Western ideals became the norm, and points out that wanting to change your facial features to conform to beauty trends will erase your ancestry.

Fearne and Afua chat about a desire for more fluidity around sexuality and identity, as well as why we should respect the wisdom that comes with age rather than fearing it.

Plus, how to dig deep and ask yourself: “Do I think this, or have I been taught this?”

Afua’s book, Decolonising My Body, is out now.

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

Emma Dabiri

Adele Roberts

Rebel Wilson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(463)

Sam Thompson: "My mind doesn’t switch off!" People pleasing and ADHD hyperfocus

Sam Thompson: "My mind doesn’t switch off!" People pleasing and ADHD hyperfocus

Sam Thompson has made a career out of making people laugh, but behind the pranks and infectious energy, there’s a lot of panic and overthinking.In this chat with Fearne, Sam shares how anxiety and und...

27 Jul 58min

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: “I want my kids to be intrepid!” How to make your holiday magical

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: “I want my kids to be intrepid!” How to make your holiday magical

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is playing over 20 festivals around the world this summer. Given she travels so much for work, it’s even more important to make family holidays properly magical.Welcome to The Happ...

23 Jul 38min

"Little Joe would’ve watched Heartstopper in secret!" Joe Locke: queer representation matters

"Little Joe would’ve watched Heartstopper in secret!" Joe Locke: queer representation matters

Joe Locke was doing his A levels on the Isle of Man when Heartstopper came out on Netflix. Two days later he had 3 million new Instagram followers.In this chat, Fearne and Joe both share their experie...

20 Jul 48min

Fearne on the loneliness of chronic pain and why she likes breaking rules

Fearne on the loneliness of chronic pain and why she likes breaking rules

There’s probably a bit too much pressure on reaching a definitive state of happiness isn’t there? It’s just not realistic. So Fearne’s dropping into your feed every week for some honest chat about wha...

16 Jul 12min

My work makes me a better parent! Coping with mum guilt and taking the pressure off

My work makes me a better parent! Coping with mum guilt and taking the pressure off

We’re heading into the summer holidays. Hands up if you’re already a bit anxious about any mum guilt creeping in...?Fearne definitely is, so she’s reflecting on the Happy Place episodes that explore h...

13 Jul 47min

Overwhelmed and exhausted? Decompress with this breathwork session from Self Space

Overwhelmed and exhausted? Decompress with this breathwork session from Self Space

Is your nervous system exhausted today? Perhaps you’ve been holding everything together, holding everything inside for a little bit too long? Find somewhere quiet and comfortable, and join Jodie Caris...

9 Jul 11min

Are you ditching your values to fit in? Todd Rose on avoiding peer pressure

Are you ditching your values to fit in? Todd Rose on avoiding peer pressure

Smoking and going to that cool gig... think you left caving to peer pressure behind at high school? Scientist and social entrepreneur Todd Rose says we’re still desperately doing our best to fit in, w...

6 Jul 1h 19min

I love chatting to strangers! Fearne’s being spontaneous and sleeping better on holiday

I love chatting to strangers! Fearne’s being spontaneous and sleeping better on holiday

Welcome to The Happy Place Guide To Holidays! In this chat – brought to you by British Airways Holidays – Fearne gets into what she and Team Happy Place absolutely love about a holiday, and which bits...

2 Jul 13min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
alt-fortalt
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
aftenpodden-usa
bokmerket-2
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
fladseth
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen
198-land-med-einar-trnquist
rss-herrepanelet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
rss-siktet