Jayne Mattingly
Author-ARtist-Advocate
As the author of her debut book, This Is Body Grief OUT NOW!!
Jayne Mattingly defines and conceptualizes the under recognized grief experiences that come with living in a body.
Through her lived experience with an eating disorder, as well as navigating life with a physical disability and chronic illness, Jayne invites individuals to wonder about their own experiences with body grief.
Meet Jayne
Jayne Mattingly is a nationally recognized disability advocate, body image speaker, and author of This is Body Grief (Penguin Random House); a groundbreaking book about what it means to grieve a body that no longer reflects the life you once lived or thought you would live.
Jayne coined the term Body Grief to name the very real and often overlooked mourning process that comes with living in a body from puberty, to aging, chronic illness to menopause, and gender dysphoria to disability.
Her work has been featured by The TODAY Show, TIME Magazine, The Papaya Podcast and Maria Shriver’s The Sunday Paper, and she has shared stages with cultural icons like Demi Lovato and Elizabeth Gilbert.
Through her nonprofit, The AND Initiative, she uses storytelling, education, and advocacy to shift the conversation around accessibility, ableism, and healing in medical and mental health spaces.
Jayne is also the artist behind Dying for Art, an ongoing series of bold, abstract paintings that explore what it means to create in a body that is constantly navigating decline, pain, and beauty. Her art, like her book, is a rebellion against erasure—proof that disabled bodies can hold grief and power, stillness and brilliance, all at once.
Based in Charleston, SC, you’ll find Jayne barefoot in her wheelchair, painting or writing with her service dog Wheatie nearby and Taylor Swift playing in the background.
This is Body Grief is available wherever books are sold.
Support Jayne’s work through her book, her nonprofit, or her art.
This Is Body Grief
The universal experience of disillusionment, sorrow, and loss that comes with simply existing in a body.
From a rise in chronic illnesses, to increased incidents of addiction, eating disorders, and self-harm,
to growing gender dysphoria, to discrimination against bodies deemed “other” in a racist, sexist,
and ableist society, it has never been harder to feel at home in one’s body.
It’s no wonder that our world is awash with unprocessed “Body Grief".
We experience Body Grief each time our body gets sick; every time we feel betrayed by our body;
and in the moment we realize how little control we have over our biology.
We grapple with Body Grief with the changing of our bodies; with each loss of bodily autonomy;
and each time our body fails to live up to the airbrushed standards of our social-media saturated world.
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The Book
Coming March 18, 2025, Jayne's debut book - This Is Body Grief explores the experience of body grief across lived experiences and perspectives
The Newsletter
Discover body grief through essays, love notes, and interviews from individuals from different backgrounds who recognize the grief associated with living in a body
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Presentations
Learn about Body Grief from Jayne first-hand by bringing her in to speak to your organization. View a sample of this offering below
Social
Follow Jayne as she navigates being newly disabled woman living with a chronic illness as she shares her experiences with her community
