Occupational therapist Katy Lennox wishes people wouldn't judge others based on the shape of their bodies.
She often notices the impact our body image has on the way we approach different aspects of our lives and the decisions we make - big and small - every day.
"So many of us feel unhappy or uncomfortable in the body we live in based on what our body looks like, rather than what it can do and how it functions," she says.
"We compare our body shape to others, often negatively, then feel obliged to invest a whole heap of time, energy and money into changing the way our body looks, all in the name of improving ourselves.
"There is a perception present in many areas of society that people who live in a smaller body are happier, more successful and healthier yet for many this is not the case," she says.
Lennox offers one of three different perspectives as a guest speaking next Wednesday night at the last Common Ground event of the year. Dedicated to having challenging and controversial conversations, the night's theme is "body image and body ideals".
It will be a panel and discussion night at The Base Health, in Newcastle West, where different perspectives and audience participation is encouraged.
Also on the panel is Sydney-based doctor Austin Hayden Smidt who acts, produces, and teaches philosophy.
"Re the ideal body, when I was in my early 20s, it was purely aesthetic," Smidt says.
"I wanted to look like Brad Pitt in that famous Fight Club poster. In my later 20s, the image changed: it was all the dudes from the film 300; I wanted to look big and strong, but also ripped ... You can see how my internal desire was purely determined by the external images that signified power, strength, desirability, sexiness, appeal, etc.
"Now, in my early 40s, and hopefully with some more wisdom and social consciousness, I am not immune to the external pressures, but more and more I just want to be as functionally capable as possible so that as I continue to age I won't be unnecessarily limited by the body I move as," Smidt says.
Newcastle-based rapper and poet Dawn Laird joins the panel as well. For over a decade she has used her music to address injustice. Her lyrics include commentary on feminism, hip hop culture and body image.
Laird said that living in a larger body her whole life had informed a lot of her creative output.
"From a very young age the size of my body seemed to be a problem for everyone around me, like an immense source of shame. Long before puberty or before I had comprehension of how the human body really worked, I carried a shame and a wound that I've spent a lot of creative energy trying to heal and unpack I guess," she says.
Over the years her opinions on body image has changed quite a bit, despite the fact that she's observed the western world dehumanising fat people.
"It doesn't matter who you are outside of your fatness, it is the ultimate sin. No amount of being a kind and generous person who works their arse off, pays their taxes, loves their family and recycles can absolve you of the sin of fatness. You are sub-human until you can take up less space. I've completely unlearned that," she says.
Earlier this year two philosophers, Joe Mintoff and Tim Cox, and I formed Common Ground with the guidance of psychiatrists Caroline DeVries (the founder of The Base). Worried by the heated and divisive state of public discussion today, our mission is to build a conversational community to facilitate productive discussion and critical thinking about complex and controversial issues. People with different opinions and perspectives are welcome. Common Ground is a place to share and a space to listen.
Along with our regular panels, Joe Mintoff (formerly senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle) facilitates an occasional discussion group, over four weeks at The Base, to talk about contested issues relating to fundamental human values, issues selected by participants themselves. The next group will happen on Tuesday nights in November. It does not presume any specific background, philosophical or otherwise.
To learn more about these event and get tickets, search social networks for Common Ground Newcastle.
