What One Year of Body image Conversations Taught Me
Reflections on the first year of A Broadway Body: Continued Conversations
For the past 365 days, I’ve committed to having two conversations per month with varying people (artists, creatives, stylists, and just people) about their body image. I’ve also taken time to reflect on and write about my own relationship to my body and self-image. As the year comes to a close, I can’t help but feel proud of myself for committing to this project for a whole year. I’m also filled with endless gratitude for the incredible humans who have so generously taken their time to sit down with me and talk body image. Every single conversation was extremely impactful for me, and I know by opening up and sharing your stories, others were and will continue to be impacted too.
Thank you for your vulnerability and openness.
Thank you for your time and energy.
Thank you for your heart and softness.
You’ve all made this project what it is, and I am beyond grateful to the guests of 2025:
Katelyn Stoss, Emilia Ray, Jas NaTasha Anderson, Jen DiBella, Geena Mericle, Sarah Plenge, Kacie Patricia, Scarlett Dyer, Maddie McGuire, Ashley Justice, Asher Phoenix, Marissa Procelli, Alia Parise, Tiffany Ragozzino, Chloé Godard, Amy McNabb, Stacy Keele, Jennie Hughes, Maddie Mason, Beth Hawkes, Jennifer Ledesma, Christine Dickinson, Liz J, Destiny Allen, and Amy Geist.
Thank you all ♥️
Such empowering conversations were had in 2025, and I’m so excited for those I’ll be talking with in 2026!!!
Three things I’ve taken away from a year of this project:
Everyone has a body image story
I truly believe this, and my mission with this project is to highlight many people’s body image stories. Anyone is welcome here in conversation with me because guess what? We all have a body image story. No matter what your body looks like. No matter how you were raised. No matter your social grooming. We all have insecurities. We all are impacted by cultural conditioning of the ideal body type. We all are affected by diet culture and the beauty industry. (Whether it’s conscious or subconscious.) So I genuinely love talking with people about this topic - one we don’t always take the time to address.
I’m so excited to continue this project in 2026 and have more and more conversations with people of varying walks of life. I think it’s SO important to talk about our personal struggles on an intimate, vulnerable level in hopes it touches someone else going through a similar experience but maybe feelings along in that.
Our society and culture conditions our brains
I’ve always said once you see it you can’t unsee it with the tricky ways the beauty industry and diet culture send you subliminal messages. I grew up in a time where flat stomaches were IN, and I always had a pooch belly (still do, don’t worry). I grew up having it subconsciously ingrained in my head that having a belly was not attractive, not good, and will ultimately make me unloveable. (Excuse me… WHAT?!) Yeah, let’s be real - how fucked is that? But it’s true. That’s what our culture convinces us, right? And if it’s not culture convincing you you’re too fat, it’s society telling you you’re too skinny. We really can not win. Our beauty ideal values thinness instead of strength, health, wellbeing. I digress because it’s a very nuanced conversation, right?
But all of this to say is my eyes were really opened to just how debilitating the way those of us who we were raised in the ‘90s and early 2000s was to our psyches when it comes to the shape of our bodies and what’s truly deemed healthy.
Noticing our favorite things about our bodies
A question I started asking my guests early on is, “What’s your favorite thing about your body?” This question sparked something beautiful in each person I asked. This question slowly began something I started to explore within myself on the daily. It’s reframed the way I view my reflection and speak to my body. It’s also been so lovely to hear the responses from all those I’ve asked this past year.
It’s such a universal homeostasis to not like the way we look. This is the baseline norm by which so many people live their lives. And I want to shake that up a bit. I want to try to get people to start thinking differently, seeing differently. We spend so much time harping on the things we dislike about our bodies, the things we want to change, the things society tells us we should “fix,” and not enough time on the things we enjoy about ourselves.
I’m very much looking forward to continuing to explore this question in 2026, and I have biiiiig plans for a project that will be coming. (Ope, I said it, so now I have to do it.) Stay tuned ;)
The future of A Broadway Body: Continued Conversations is exciting. I can see the path, and I can’t wait to continue down this road to see where it leads me. I’m trusting in what’s ahead, and I’m so grateful to have you along for the ride.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for supporting my work. Thank you for reading and listening to my solo posts and conversations alike. It means so much to me, and I’m so grateful I’m not just writing into the abyss.
See you next year, my dears!
In body healing,
Megan ❤️🔥
Do you have a friend, family member or peer who might love this too? I’d be honored if you could help me spread the word about my writing and body image conversations!
While I’m not a licensed therapist, registered dietician, or medical health professional and cannot speak to body image topics from a clinical, trauma-informed place, I am an expert of lived experience. I’m an academic of my own body, and I’m passionate about facilitating conversations with other humans about their relationships with their bodies. I believe it’s important to continue conversations about healthy body image in creative spaces as a means to heal individuals as well as the collective whole. But just know the information presented in this medium is not professional mental health advice or medical advice, and any questions or concerns you have should always be directed to your healthcare providers.