Today on the podcast I talk to Juanita De Villiers. Juanita is a collector of hobbies and special interests, and a Masters candidate at the University of Cape Town where her thesis focuses on contemporary gothic literature. Juanita is a massive horror enthusiast, in the process of starting a horror podcast and has a horror Instagram account already. She is currently working on a chapter about autism, folklore and horror cinema.

Juanita describes herself as a ‘queer cat mom cliché’ and as passionate about animal rights and food justice.

She is also a vegan and passionate about animal rights and food justice.

Juanita’s piece in Living While Feminist is called ‘Finding the Average: Neurodivergence, Queerness and ‘Fitting In’. In that piece she says:

“I am a confluence of things that would not fit in. It’s why I hold the label ‘queer’ so dear. I am queer, I am odd. I am out of place no matter where I go. My body will not shrink to fit, and it will not grow to the size that allows me to claim ‘fat’ as a title of honour. I was an outcast at school, quirky as a young adult. I couldn’t curtail myself properly.”

So today I talk with Juanita about body projects, body comfort, and neurodivergence.