Note: Jude uses both she/her and they/them pronouns. Plus BKLYN supports all gender identities, so we've used these pronouns interchangeably in this post!
Jude Valentin is a Latinx blogger, who lives their best life in Brooklyn, NY. Be sure to subscribe to her YouTube channel!
PBK: Thank you for joining us, Jude! Why did you decide to start blogging? What/who inspired you to become a blogger?
JV: So, I do Youtube, which is video blogging in a sense. There was no one who looked like me on Youtube, there were of course fat and plus sized Youtubers but they didn’t meet my intersections of fat AND latinx AND queer, so I decided to make that space for myself.
I had a lot to say about body positivity, and queerness, and social constructs and I wanted to design that space for myself. I have been on the platform with an actual brand and mission for almost 2 years now, but I made my account when I was back in middle school.
Meghan Tonjes and FatGirlFlow were definitely two catalysts in my decision to actually start taking Youtube as seriously as I do now. I made a video series back in the day when I was first starting out and someone sent me a really long message about how my existence on the platform was helping them and that was another big factor in my decision.
PBK: YES! Love that. I think those two creators have inspired a lot of people. I love that you decided to go for it and make content! What sorts of things do you blog about? Why are you passionate about those topics?
JV: I make videos about body positivity/body liberation, queerness, mental health, and media representation! I am passionate about all of these topics because they are issues that I deal with in my day-to-day, and I personally believe that we can all be a bit better about being transparent.
Body Positivity/Liberation is what my channel started as, it started as a place for people to come see a fat person who didn’t hate themselves, and over time it shifted to include my other intersections and passions.
Media Representation is a big one for me because we are still struggling with media representation for fat people, for latinx folks, for mentally ill folks in a way that’s not stigmatizing. My background is in theatre and I’ve been an actor for a little over a decade now. Finding representation and roles for me to audition for has been the biggest thorn in my side.
I have dedicated myself to dismantling harmful media stereotypes and my channel is just a way that I can do that. I do mental health check-ins on my channel because I think that online we have a bad habit of painting everything as roses and glitter and people need to know that it’s not that all the time, and that’s okay! It’s okay to not be okay.
PBK: HERE for all of this! Especially media representation, that one just boggles me that it's such an issue. Okay, next question: How do you feel about the term “plus size”? Is there a term you prefer?
JV: For a long time, plus-size was the word that I was using and I still use. I think that plus-size is just a more polite way to say fat, so I also use fat as a descriptor. I don’t necessarily prefer one over the other, but I will change the word depending on who I’m talking to. Everyone is on different paths of body liberation, so I’ll shape my words depending on where they are.
PBK: We do the same! Some folks don't want to reclaim the word "fat," so we use whatever descriptor the other person uses. How would you describe your style?
JV: I think "oceanic witch" has been the way that I’ve been describing my style lately. It feels right.
PBK: Serving Ursula OOTDs! Love that. What plus BKLYN item do you feel best exemplifies your style (copy and paste the link). Why this piece? -
JV: The Crescent Moon Maxi is the item that best exemplifies my style! It is long and flowy which gives that oceanic wave vibe, but it’s witchy because it has the crescent moons all over it. And then of course, it’s black, which is like 80% of my clothes.
PBK: What’s coming up that are you excited about? (Conference, vacation, new job, etc)
JV: I’m going to Washington DC for a few days this month with Arielle Jane, and so I’ll be able to take new photos of her and it’s going to be good to get out of the city for a little bit. I’m also in planning mode for Vlogmas which is a vlog for 25 days thing that happens on Youtube that I’ve been doing for the past 2 years. It’s EXHAUSTING but it’s totally worth it!
PBK: Okay, last question, and it's a good one! What is something you want to convey/share with the internet?
JV: Meet yourself and others where they’re at. You’re not always going to be perfect, and they’re not always going to be perfect. So be kind to each other and practice empathy and compassion.