In the media RSS

Yesterday I was contacted by a journalist from Stuff for my thoughts on the closure of Jenny Craig and you can read the resulting article here. Ever since I contracted Long COVID last year and got brain fog, I find it much easier to provide written responses where I can articulate myself properly, rather than a rushed phone conversation, so I answered her questions via email. I had rather a lot to say, so here's my full response to the questions:   How do you feel about the possible end of Jenny Craig? My first response was absolute glee. It's always...

In February I was contacted by an editor at Stuff to ask if she could speak to me about the movie The Whale. Because my brain is still a little Long COVID-y, and I wanted to make sure I got my words right, I said I'd rather answer her questions via email than phone, and she actually ended up commissioning me to write the whole piece, woo.  "Fat suits treat the fat body as a prison, perpetuating the myth that there’s a thin person inside every fat person, just waiting to come out. They lie to us saying, “You don’t deserve...

I talked to Ali in the Sunday Star Times about House of Boom, and how sometimes it's pretty clear fashion people are afraid of fat people  The label does much of its business online but when they do have pop-up sales, McLeod says, most of the customers are public servants. She is also amazed at Worksafe's attitudes, and thinks it's an ingrained gut reaction to large-sized women. "People don't like to associate with fatness, like it will rub off on you." She name-checks Project Runway winner Christian Siriano as one of the only designers who has really grabbed the opportunity: "He's rolling in money, because he...

I talked to Alex Casey at the Spinoff about brands claiming to be for 'all women' when they only go up to a size 16. “I understand that capitalism is a hard game, but there is literally a large market out there currently not being catered for who want to spend money with you if you extend your range.  But it shouldn’t just be about the sales, says McLeod. “We need to keep reminding people that their experience is not the universal experience. All bodies are valid, but people who have thin privilege who don’t have to consider these issues. I...

Recently I spoke about why I set up Boom at the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand’s conference on the topic of changing mindsets. That talk was live-streamed on Facebook so you can watch it here. Please note that I do swear and talk a little about self harm in it.