Content warning: this episode contains detailed discussion of dieting, weight loss, specific weights, and discussion of disordered eating. For more information and recommended reading and listening, please check out the rest of the show notes for a list of brilliant articles, resources, and podcasts dealing with these topics.  This week on Growing up with gal-dem we’re joined by award-nominated author and editor Sara Jafari. Ahead of the US publication of her debut novel The Mismatch, we speak to Sara about Muslim women’s representation in literature, and how The Mismatch tackles this through storytelling in 1970s Iran and contemporary Brighton.  Sara shares with us an extract from her teen years dealing with disordered eating and weight loss, and shares her experiences with Nie and Natty on how normalised fatphobia impacted her and her growth.  Recommended reading / listening Maintenance Phase Podcast - Wellness & weight loss, debunked & decoded. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay Sonalee Rashatwar - The Fat Sex Therapist on Instagram   Stephanie Yeboah - writer and consultant working in fat acceptance & activism  Queeries: how do I work through my internalised fatphobia? - gal-dem Queeries article, with extensive list of resources collated by Aisha Mirza in footer  This Is for Anyone Living Through the Pandemic With an Eating Disorder  Your Fat Friend - Aubrey Gordon’s writings  What is an eating problem? Mind.org resource   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.