JOIN US
FOR A SPECIAL SCREENING OF
A project dedicated to holding space
and bringing a more compassionate lens
to disordered eating in the queer community.
THURSDAY MAY 26
7-8:30PM
Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax Evaristus Rm 104
This free event welcomes 2SLGBTQIA+ folks, community service providers, scholars, students, healthcare providers and the general public to a screening and facilitated discussion of Wicked Bodies – a toolkit to help to reduce stigma, generate hope, and invite more open conversation among 2SLGBTQIA+ folks struggling with disordered eating, eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Your feedback at this session will inform the themes for future films.
Featuring uplifting narrative films Wicked Bodies stimulates conversation to challenge and disrupt rigid body ideals, improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.
   Wicked Bodies gives 2SLGBTQIA+ voices the mic
to share their own lived experience authentically.
Providing a template for engaging with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community with compassion and cultural humility, Wicked Bodies presents lived experiences of a diverse range of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals navigating socio-cultural pressures, gender expectations and peer-based ideals around body weight and shape.
   In my twenty years in the field, I have never seen a resource like this before. I cannot underscore the importance of this work.
Anita Federici, Ph.D C.Psych, The Centre for Psychology and Emotion Regulation
Through uplifting narrative short films and educational toolkits, Wicked Bodies will help to reduce stigma, generate hope, and invite more open conversation among those struggling with disordered eating, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia.

Wicked Bodies is a digital resource toolkit designed to foster positive engagement in treatment and support centres, education centres, and non-profit programs working with 2SLGBTQIA+ groups with disordered eating, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia. The Wicked Bodies tools and resources speak to the need to have tailor-made responses for 2SLGBTQIA+ community members in relation to these topics as traditionally their specific needs have not been properly or fully addressed.

Dr Phillip Joy’s research shows that insufficient time is spent training health professionals in university programs to effectively understand the unique experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ people and their health. Common barriers include a lack of culturally safer and structurally competent engagement in treatment, pressure to fit within narrow socially constructed body standards, and lack of supports from family and friends. In our personal communications with our partners it was determined that there is a lack of resources to use with their 2SLGBTQIA+ clients.

Featuring first-person subject profile videos, Wicked Bodies presents lived experiences of a diverse range of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals navigating socio-cultural pressures, gender expectations and peer-based ideals around body weight and shape. Wicked Bodies provides clinicians the resources to engage their clients with cultural competency, and is a reference for culturally appropriate 2SLGBTQIA+ engagement when training the next generation of healthcare workers.
Creators
Dr Phillip JoyDr. Joy (he/him) is a registered dietitian with the Nova Scotia Dietetic Association (NSDA) and an Assistant Professor at Mount Saint Vincent University. His research interests are driven by his own experiences as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. His research perspective is through the lens of poststructuralism and queer theory and provides both a personal and political perspective on the topic of nutrition, gender, sexuality, nutrition pedagogy, and health. His research often uses arts-based methodologies, such as photography and comics, that can disrupt the foundations of nutrition and health research. He was co-editor of Rainbow Reflections: Body Image Comics for Queer Men. 

Truefaux Films
Truefaux Films develops and produces social impact media content, successfully promoting community action​ on a local, provincial, and national scope​​. We focus on projects that expand understanding, change perspectives, and challenge people to take action, opening up avenues of thought that continue long after each projects’ conclusion. 

Truefaux Films has a proven track record of generating community-led change by forging multi-sectoral partnerships. Together we develop engagement toolkits adaptable to the specific needs of diverse populations. 
   The format Wicked Bodies presents is something that we at Body Brave find to be incredibly impactful for providing hope.

This hope extends both for those struggling with disordered eating who are seeking help, and for those working to support them, either professionally or personally.
Erin Huston Training & Education Coordinator, Body Brave
Project Partners
  • Eating Disorders Nova Scotia
  • Body Brave ON
  • MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning NS
  • Bridgepoint Centre for Eating Disorders SK
  • Anita Federici Ph.D C.Psych & Owner of The Centre for Psychology & Emotion Regulation ON
  • Dr Olivier Ferlatte Professeur Adjoint Département de médecine sociale et préventive École de Santé Publique de l’Université de Montréal QC
  • Youth Project NS
  • Community Based Research Centre (CBRC) BC, ON, NS
  • Dieticians of Canada ON
  • Halifax Pride NS
  • National Eating Disorder Information Centre ON
  • Dr Megan Aston Professor School of Nursing, Dalhousie University NS
  • Looking Glass Foundation BC
We acknowledge that historically eating disorder knowledge and treatment practices are rooted in colonialism, racism and cis-heteronormativity. The Wicked Bodies team is committed to helping individuals who experience eating disorders or disordered eating, whatever that looks like for them and regardless of whether or not they have received an eating disorder diagnosis. We aspire to actively understand the inequities and injustices that permeate health institutions in Canada and affect the lives of individuals. We believe that our health and well-being are more than just our physical bodies – it includes our mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and community wellbeing. 

For us, this acknowledgment is a small way of intentionally documenting the influence of cis-heteronormativity, colonization and racism that all of us have to keep in mind as we do this work.
   In this time of increased hardship due to Covid-19, a documentary series provides a fresh and innovative way to share stories of adversity and resilience while ensuring youth understand the possibility of a healthy and happy queer adult life.
Courtney Connor Development Officer & 2SLGBTQ+ Project Lead, MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning

WANT TO SUPPORT OR PARTICIPATE
IN WICKED BODIES?

CONTACT HANNAH MINZLOFF

hannah@truefaux.ca 902.223.9479

Project funders

Hannah Minzloff 902.223.9479 hannah@truefaux.ca
John Hillis 902.422.7226 john@truefaux.ca
11 PLEASANT STREET . DARTMOUTH .  NS .  B2Y 3P1 . CANADA
We are committed to dialogue and collaboration with BIPOC, Immigrant and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, amid ongoing social, cultural and environmental effects of colonialism and globalization, as part of our mandate to support people and organizations that make positive social and cultural change.

Truefaux Films is privileged to live and work in Mi'kma'ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People. We acknowledge that our work extends beyond the lands of this nation.
©2022 Truefaux Films Inc