Sonalee Rashatwar (she/they), MSW, LCSW, MEd is an award-winning social worker based in Philadelphia. She is a fat queer nonbinary bemme therapist, specializing in treating sexual trauma, body image issues, racial or immigrant identity issues, and South Asian family systems, while offering fat positive sexual healthcare. Popularly known as The Fat Sex Therapist 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. A sought-after speaker, Sonalee travels internationally to curate custom visual workshops that whisper to our changemaking spirit and nourish our vision for a more just future. In this episode, Sonalee shares deeply honest stories about their journey to being anti-diet, talking openly about the experience of body shame and nonconsensual dieting in childhood and of the resulting fat trauma that persists into their adult life. We talk about Sonalee’s graduate school experience, why she almost quit multiple times, and what ultimately helped her to continue on. This conversation goes in so many important directions, with Sonalee sharing about shadeism and fatphobia, how to advocate for ourselves at the doctor’s office, the politics of desirability, the value in taking penetrative sex off the cultural pedestal we’ve put it on, and so much more. I learn from Sonalee on Instagram every day, and I’m so grateful for all that they shared in this conversation. I hope you enjoy it just as much! (more…)