Virgie Tovar, an author and activist, will speak at Yale on “Diet Culture, Fatphobia & the New Sexism” on Thursday, March 29, as a Poynter Fellow in Journalism.

Tovar’s talk will take place on Thursday, March 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Silliman Head of College House, 71 Wall St. The talk is free and open to the public.

Event Details Virgie Tovar: ‘Diet Culture, Fatphobia & the New Sexism’ Silliman Head of College House, 71 Wall St. Map

Tovar is one of the nation’s leading experts and lecturers on fat discrimination and body image. She is the founder of Babecamp, a four-week online course designed to help women who are ready to “break up” with diet culture. She started the hashtag campaign #LoseHateNotWeight. Tovar is the editor of “Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on Life, Love & Fashion,” a book of essays. This August, her new book, “You Have the Right to Remain Fat,” will be published.

Tovar formerly hosted “The Virgie Show” on CBS Radio in San Francisco and wrote about plus-size style for Buzzfeed. She holds a master’s degree in sexuality studies, with a focus on the intersections of body size, race, and gender. She previously taught “female sexuality” at the University of California-Berkeley.

The Poynter Fellowship in Journalism was established by Nelson Poynter, who received his master’s degree in 1927 from Yale. The fellowship brings to campus journalists from a wide variety of outlets who have made significant contributions to their field. Among recent Poynter fellows are Daniel Mallory Ortberg, Caroline Kitchener, and Vinson Cunningham.