Megan Jayne Crabbe is a blogger, author and YouTuber who promotes body positivity. TenEighty recently caught up with her to chat all things YouTube and social media.
TenEighty: What was the first YouTube video you ever watched?
Megan: Probably a tutorial on how to dye your hair rainbow colours!
T: What advice can you give to those wishing to make a name for themselves on Instagram?
M: Be honest about your reasons for being there. I think the most important part is really believing that what you’re posting will have a positive or meaningful impact; there are enough empty aesthetic accounts already. Once you know what your message is, hold onto it. Be authentic, be unapologetically you, be consistent and don’t forget to connect with other people in your community!
T: What were you doing before you started your Instagram account?
M: I was (and still am) a care assistant for my older sister, Gemma. She lives with a condition called cerebral palsy and I’ve been part of her care team for about seven years now.
Recently, she’s started creeping into more of my content and is genuinely more popular than I am on my own channels. I literally get messages from people saying they’re only following me to see her! We film Q&As, post pictures of our adventures together (most recently, Disneyland!) and she’s always on my stories saying something sassy.
T: What’s the best thing to come out of creating your Instagram account?
M: I think the thing that has meant the most to me is being about to write my book, Body Positive Power, which is absolutely everything I know about making peace with our bodies, all condensed into one super pink package. I don’t know where social media is going in the future, but the book is forever, and I get messages every single day from people telling me how it’s changed their lives, which is pretty magical.
T: What’s one thing you would say to our readers who are currently struggling with their body image?
M: The most important thing that you can realise is that how you feel about your body is not your fault. None of us are born believing that our bodies are flawed or ugly. That’s something we learn by growing up in a fatphobic culture where dieting and body [shaming] are so normalised.
Your body is not the problem. How you’ve been taught to see your body is the problem. Every weight loss ad; every Photoshopped magazine cover; every TV show with an entirely thin, white, young, cisgender, able-bodied cast; every fat shaming comment you hear; every narrative about thinness being the only route to happiness – these are the things that add up and shape how you see your own body. You did not ask to be born into a world that values how you look over who you are, which means that it’s not your fault you feel the way you do, and it means you deserve better.
T: What’s the funniest/best post you’ve ever seen on Instagram?
M: The body positive community makes killer posts every day, but I will admit to crying with laughter over the weekend on a packed train while watching the video of Shawn Mendes being flicked in the face. We love wholesome comedic content.
T: Can you recommend a UK YouTuber we should be watching?
M: Michelle Elman! She’s a body confidence coach and influencer who makes advice videos on every topic you could imagine, from wearing a bikini to dealing with imposter syndrome. She’s the friend I go to for all my advice too!
Would you rather…
An evening out with friends or a cozy night in?
M: An evening out!
Never be able to post on Instagram again or never be able to write another book?
M: Never be able to post… Although, I think that would screw up future book sales!
Have unlimited knowledge or money?
M: I’d take the money and give it to charitable causes and organisations. Being the only person in the world who knows everything sounds lonely.
Never be able to buy new clothes again or have to wear the same outfit each and every day?
M: Never buy new clothes! I have an impressively rainbow wardrobe already.
Never be able to watch YouTube again or never be able to watch Netflix again?
M: Never be able to watch YouTube. Less time on social media would probably be [more] better for me than I’d like to admit!
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