Middle Fingers Up

EP.166 - Andrea Samtani - "I Would Really Love For Indian Women To Start Taking Ownership For Their Own Bodies"

This episode is dedicated to our bodies. The Brown ones. The bloated ones. The strong ones. The “why is my head filled with negativity about my body" ones. I've been thinking a lot lately about how we  were taught to fix our bodies  before fully living in them. How little we learned to trust our gut, to understand the connection between mind and body. And how hard it is now to tune in. This week on Middle Fingers Up, I sit down with Andrea: a South Asian mental health professional and content creator based in Australia --to talk about body image, fitness culture, the flat belly myth, BMI, hormones, and the exhausting experience of trying to achieve a beauty standard many of us were literally never built for. We talk about: -striving for a whiter ideal(even when we think we aren't. ) -why generic health advice often fails Brown women -and how our  body becomes something we monitor instead of something we build a relationship with.  One of the biggest takeaways? We may not be able to stop people from commenting on women’s bodies. Those aunties, guys and society...But we can stop turning those comments into our identity. Also: maybe the goal isn’t a flat stomach. Maybe the goal is finally taking up space without apologizing for it. The tummy is the new black. Listen now if you’ve ever: avoided the photo, changed your outfit 14 times, or believed your worth increased every time your body got smaller. Middle Fingers Up to all of it. Instagram: andreasamtani [https://www.instagram.com/andreasamtani/#] Support the show [https://ko-fi.com/mfupodcast] If you like what you hear please click on "subscribe" or "follow" -  It's free and you will get notified when the newest episodes are posted!  Check us out on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mfupodcast/], X, and YouTube @mfupodcast. Give feedback, middle finger recommendations as well as random thoughts to info@mfupodcast.com [info@mfupodcast.com]. Thank you for listening! In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.

EP.165 - Patty-"Nobody Talks About The Joy"

In this episode, I sit down with  psychologist and writer Patty for a powerful conversation about the inner worlds of children of immigrants and how childhood conditioning continues to shape adult identity, relationships, and wellbeing. Patty brings both clinical expertise and lived experience as an Indian psychologist, a mother raising two biracial daughters, and someone navigating life and partnership across race and culture. Together, we  explore how obedience, guilt, silence, and sacrifice are often normalized in immigrant households and how those patterns quietly follow people into adulthood. This episode examines why so many children of immigrants grow up lacking language for their emotional experiences, how unprocessed conflict and missing repair shape anxiety and shame, and why saying “I turned out fine” often masks deeper burnout, disconnection, or physical symptoms. Rather than staying stuck in the past, the focus is on what healing can look like now and how doing this work impacts future generations. From parenting differently, to redefining responsibility and gratitude, to understanding how the body holds stress and trauma, this conversation invites listeners to get curious, question inherited narratives, and reclaim authorship over their own lives. If you grew up between cultures and have ever wondered “Where is this coming from?” or “Who am I outside of who I was taught to be?”, this episode offers language, validation, and a place to begin. Instagram: pjtemple7 [https://www.instagram.com/pjtemple7/#] Website: pjtemple.com [https://pjtemple.com/] Support the show [https://ko-fi.com/mfupodcast] If you like what you hear please click on "subscribe" or "follow" -  It's free and you will get notified when the newest episodes are posted!  Check us out on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mfupodcast/], X, and YouTube @mfupodcast. Give feedback, middle finger recommendations as well as random thoughts to info@mfupodcast.com [info@mfupodcast.com]. Thank you for listening! In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.

EP.164 - Mohini - "Are You Really 'Fine' Though?"

Wedding season is meant to be joyful, full of love, music, and celebration. However in this EP, we are naming what happens when you’re walking into those spaces carrying something else. A welcome back to guest to Mohini, who is here to share her experiences with  the in-between moments—the ones we don’t always name. The reality that you can be genuinely happy for someone you love… and still be grieving, questioning, or processing something in your own life at the same time. We get into what that actually looks like in real time, how unprocessed emotions don’t just disappear, they show up in the way we move, react, and cope. We also talk about the subtle (and not so subtle) ways divorced South Asian women are labeled in these spaces—and how that shapes the experience of being there. This isn’t about taking away from the celebration. It’s about giving ourselves permission to be honest about what we’re carrying while we’re in it. If you’ve ever felt like you had to be “fine” in a room where you weren’t… this one is for you. And if you know someone that maybe isn't as 'fine' as they say to be- check in on them. Like one of those "but how are you really doing" kind of check ins. Wedding season can be tough, divorce stigma is a real thing, and we all can bring a little extra compassion with us.  You don’t have to be over it to show up. You just have to be honest about where you are. Instagram:  iammohinigima [https://www.instagram.com/iammohinigima/#] CTA - This conversation doesn’t end here. If something landed for you, reach out to Mohini via IG—she’s open to hearing your story and continuing the dialogue. Support the show [https://ko-fi.com/mfupodcast] If you like what you hear please click on "subscribe" or "follow" -  It's free and you will get notified when the newest episodes are posted!  Check us out on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mfupodcast/], X, and YouTube @mfupodcast. Give feedback, middle finger recommendations as well as random thoughts to info@mfupodcast.com [info@mfupodcast.com]. Thank you for listening! In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.

EP.163 - Sarah Akinterinwa-"My Identity Will Never Be Straightforward - & That's Okay"

Featured in The New Yorker and The Guardian, Sarah is a Nigerian child of immigrants, raised in the UK and now based in Canada, whose work as a cartoonist captures the quiet, in-between moments we don’t always have the language for. If you’ve ever found yourself in a room thinking, “why doesn’t this feel right anymore?”… this conversation will hit. We talk about what it means to make sense of ourselves in a world that once taught us to suppress more than we expressed. From the question of “Do I belong, or am I just fitting in?” to navigating identity as children of immigrants, this conversation moves through the layers of growth, culture, and the subtle shifts that shape how we show up in our relationships. Sarah shares how her art has become a mirror—especially for women of color—reflecting back the feelings so many of us carry but struggle to name. And I can say, she did exactly that for me. This is for the woman who feels in-between... and is learning to trust what she feels, even when she can’t fully explain it yet. Instagram: sarah_akinterinwa [https://www.instagram.com/sarah_akinterinwa/#] Support the show [https://ko-fi.com/mfupodcast] If you like what you hear please click on "subscribe" or "follow" -  It's free and you will get notified when the newest episodes are posted!  Check us out on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mfupodcast/], X, and YouTube @mfupodcast. Give feedback, middle finger recommendations as well as random thoughts to info@mfupodcast.com [info@mfupodcast.com]. Thank you for listening! In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.

EP.162 - Harleen Randhawa - "My Existence Is Resistance"

In this episode, I sit down with artist, mother, and fellow Randhawa, Harleen, to explore what happens when we stop performing the lives expected of us and start expressing our truth. Having immigrated to Canada as a baby, Harleen grew up in the in-between, navigating identity as a child of Indian immigrants while learning who she needed to be to belong. She shares her journey through body image struggles, fat shaming, and the pressure to be the “good girl, a version of herself shaped by family, culture, and the quiet weight of societal expectations. From writing a letter to God at 12 asking why she didn’t look “right,” to navigating grief after the loss of her mother, to leaving corporate work life  to pursue her art. This conversation is about unlearning. Unlearning the belief that our bodies are the problem. Unlearning the idea that being “good” matters more than being whole. We talk about how beauty standards are constructed and reinforced, why fatness is so often villainized, and how language, family dynamics, and systems like patriarchy and white supremacy quietly shape what women believe they’re allowed to be. We also explore what it means to mother yourself while raising daughters, to break cycles in real time, and to create a life where  'we' and the next generation don’t feel like we  have to disappear to be loved. At its core, this is a conversation about honoring your younger self, questioning the rules you were handed, and choosing joy, expression, and authenticity.   Join the conversation: What’s one thing you’re ready to stop performing? Follow Harleen’s work: Instagram: harleen.illustrates [https://www.instagram.com/harleen.illustrates/#] Support the show [https://ko-fi.com/mfupodcast] If you like what you hear please click on "subscribe" or "follow" -  It's free and you will get notified when the newest episodes are posted!  Check us out on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mfupodcast/], X, and YouTube @mfupodcast. Give feedback, middle finger recommendations as well as random thoughts to info@mfupodcast.com [info@mfupodcast.com]. Thank you for listening! In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.