Q&A with TEDx Speaker Afftene Taylor: WE’RE on the Menu: Misconceptions of Disordered Eating

As a filmmaking instructor since 2012, I am always amazed by the talent, courage, and tenacity of the hundreds of students I’ve met in my workshops and online classes over the last decade. One filmmaker who I met through a workshop hosted by the Atlanta Film Society, Afftene Taylor, especially inspired me for her work as a storyteller, speaker, actress, and writer. And, today, as I watch the on-demand video of her live TEDx at Duke talk, I am in awe of Afftene’s courage to share her personal story and journey in WE’RE on the Menu: Misconceptions of Disordered Eating | Cara Peterson & Afftene Taylor | TEDxDuke.?

As a mother of a daughter and mentor to many young people, I found the talk given by Afftene and her co-presenter, Cara Peterson, as being incredibly eye-opening, humbling and educational. As an audience member, I felt so emotionally moved by the speech, I had to reach out to her to learn more. And, she was gracious enough to sit down with me for this “talk about her TEDx talk” in the form of a written Q&A:??

Q: How would you describe your TEDx Talk??

Afftene: My TED Talk is a duet with author/teacher Caralena Peterson about the misinformation and stereotypes surrounding disordered eating. It was meant to inform folks on the myriad ways that disordered eating can show up and expand the ideas on who suffers from it. Through the retelling of our personal narratives, Caralena and I share how society - through media, healthcare, and education - shaped our knowledge, access, and recovery.?

Q: This was an incredibly personal topic. How did you find the courage to speak so openly about it??

Afftene: I have no idea! I have avoided speaking about weight and food-related issues publicly for YEARS. I never wanted to be THAT girl. Hell, it’s hard enough just being fat – I was not trying to be the poster girl, you know?

But I think there is something to be said for getting older and not giving a damn anymore. For not shielding parts of myself that society has deemed unbefitting. I had to get out of my own way and Cara was an instrumental part of that. Through working with her over a myriad of projects plus doing some hardcore self work, I became more brave. I don’t think there was a specific moment – just a series of choices and opportunities that kept inching me towards a person who could stand on her alma mater’s stage and say “Hey, this is the story of me and my struggles with binging”.?

Q: How do you think the media - especially scripted shows and films - can better represent disordered eating conditions in characters and why is this important?

Afftene: Close your eyes. If I say “here’s a movie about a person suffering from disordered eating”, your mind is probably going to imagine a white female, in her teens/early 20s, emaciated to the point where you can see her ribs through her abdomen. This imagery is powerful, but it is woefully incomplete.?

Where are the Black girls who are hopping from diet to diet attempting to keep up with the Instagram slim-thick look? Where are the middle-age men grappling with body dysmorphia and using food to cope? Where are the fat folks with anorexia?

Most people don’t know that these pockets exist when we say “disordered eating”. Most people don’t know that we are speaking about them!?

By diversifying the imagery, we can expand folks’ ideas on who is suffering from this and encourage them to get the help that they deserve.?

And we can go even deeper with this! A diversified patient pool means we get to see the breadth of the symptology of disordered eating. But when we only pour research dollars into a few groups of people, mainly white women, we only see the symptomatology of those few. But disordered eating looks different from that of Black women. We trend towards Binge Eating Disorder. We arrive at the table with childhood trauma, epigenetic trauma, and acculturative stress. All of that impacts our eating behavior. Imagine what is going on with immigrant communities, queer communities, disabled, etc. But we shouldn’t have to imagine. We should know. But in order for us to know, the research has to be done and the mental healthcare resources have to be in place.

Q: What is the #1 thing you want people to take away from your TED Talk??

Afftene: If you think you have a problem with food, go seek help.? If you have something mean to say about people’s bodies, go play in traffic.??

Q: You’re also an actor and writer. How did writing screenplays help you to script your TEDx Talk??

Afftene: Grab ‘em from the very beginning with something engaging and thought-provoking. Wrap it up with a happy ending. The middle will work itself out.

Q: As an actor - how did you apply your performance skills to be on stage as a live speaker??

Afftene: There was no teleprompter, so I had to be super off-book. Know it like I knew my name. Thankfully, as an actor, I had many memorization tools in my arsenal. Once I got past memorization, everything else fell into place.

I think one of the biggest skills you can have as an actor is to not make the words seem stiff or “performish”. Obviously, memorization helps with that. Given the context of a TEDTalk, where I’m not speaking to another character, I utilized famed social worker and overall vulnerability goddess Brene Brown who has two very popular TED Talks. She’s so relaxed and friendly, yet informative. You walk away feeling empowered, but not preached to. Listening and digesting her speeches, among a few others, was something that I kept coming back to when preparing.?

Essentially, the conclusion I arrived at was to truly believe in what I was saying, its urgency, and that I was the only one who could really do it. It’s the same thing when acting.

Q: What do you recommend, as someone who has so bravely shared her story, to other creators who may wish to write a story or share a story publicly based on their own experience??

Afftene: Have a good support system. Because once you start digging, you’re gonna question why you’re doing this and a support system – a friend, therapist, confidant – will hold you up and remind you of your why. It was easy for me because I had Cara.

Q. What’s next for you as a speaker, writer and actor??

Afftene: You know, I don’t know what my future is as a speaker. I did this TEDTalk at the request of Caralena. I don’t think I’ve ever had active dreams of being a professional speaker. So I guess this TEDTalk is my debut! Shout out to me!!?

This summer, I will be writing my first short film! I am marrying my favorite genre – horror – with the topic of disordered eating. It’s been on my creative to-do list for a couple of years. I’ve been busy with preparing for this talk and getting my acting career off the ground. I hope to be done with my script by the end of this summer so mama’s gotta get busy!??

Lastly, acting is its own adventure. I am proud to say that I have two short films coming out this year, and I am actively looking for representation in the Atlanta market. Follow me on Twitter, IG, and TikTok @madebyafftene for more gloriousness.?