Taryn Brumfitt (born ) is an Australian

body positivity Body positivity is a social movement focused on the acceptance of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities, while challenging present-day beauty standards as an undesirable social construct. Proponents fo ...

advocate, writer, photographer, and filmmaker, known for founding the Body Image Movement and for her 2016 documentary film ''

Embrace Embrace may refer to: * A hug, a form of physical intimacy * Acceptance Music Bands * Embrace (American band), a post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. * Embrace (English band), a post-Britpop band from West Yorkshire * Embrace (duo), a Danish ...

''. The crowdfunded film ''Embrace Kids'', intended for use in schools, was released in 2022.

Early life and education

Brumfitt was born in . She attended

Unley High School Unley High School, located in Netherby, South Australia. History Unley High School was founded in 1910 as one of the first public high schools to be established after Adelaide High School in 1908. Initially it was under the control of the He ...

in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

suburb of Netherby.

Career

Brumfitt was first a photographer. After the birth of her third child, she considered

cosmetic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...

, as she was unhappy with the appearance of her body, but took up

body building Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

instead. Brumfitt founded the Body Image Movement in 2012. The Body Image Movement describes itself as "on a quest to end the global body-hating epidemic" and "working to put an end to body loathing and spread the message of body loving". It aims to recruit a Body Image Movement Global Ambassador Program (BIMGAP), of people who will spread its message internationally through social media and local contacts. In 2016 Brumfitt's film ''

'' was released. Brumfitt gave a talk at the

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

event in Adelaide in 2016. From around 2019 the movement crowdfunded for a documentary film, ''Embrace Kids'', aimed at children aged 8-12, to make available to schools around the world. Featuring many well-known entertainers and artists, such as

Celeste Barber Celeste Barber (born 6 May 1982) is an Australian comedian and media personality. Early life Celeste was born and raised in Australia, and grew up in the city of Sydney for most of her life. She has a sister. Celeste attended Saint Joseph's ...

, the duo

Electric Fields Electric Fields are an Aboriginal Australian electronic music duo made up of vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and keyboard player and producer Michael Ross. Electric Fields combine modern electric-soul music with Aboriginal culture and sing in Pi ...

Jameela Jamil Jameela Alia Jamil (born 25 February 1986) is a British actress and presenter. She began her career on Channel 4, where she hosted a pop culture series in the T4 strand from 2009 until 2012. She then became the radio host of ''The Official Cha ...

, and

Chloé Hayden Chloé Sarah Hayden (born July 23, 1997) is an Australian actress, social-media personality, activist in the disability rights movement, podcast host, and author. As an actress, she is known for her role as Quinn "Quinni" Gallagher-Jones in the ...

, the film was released in 2022, listed on IMDb as ''Embrace: Kids''.

Recognition

In September 2018 Brumfitt was named one of ''

The Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

s 100 Women of Influence in the Global category. She was named 2023

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

in January 2023.

Personal life

Brumfitt experienced family tragedy when her brother Jason died of a heroin overdose aged 28. She married Matt Brumfitt in 2002 or 2003. He had previously worked in logistics but gave up that career to become the managing director of the Body Image Movement. They have three children. They divorced in 2020. her partner is Tim Pearson. On 10 October 2023, Brumfitt was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist

Patrick McGorry Patrick Dennistoun McGorry FAA FASSA FAHMS FRCP FRANZCP (born 10 September 1952) is an Irish-born Australian psychiatrist known for his development of the early intervention services for emerging mental disorders in young people. Positio ...

Selected publications

* * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brumfitt, Taryn 1970s births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian women writers Australian film directors Australian women film directors Fat acceptance activists Australian of the Year Award winners People educated at Unley High School