Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor

13 reviews

rieviolet's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

This book deals with a very important topic and introduced me to the term "body terrorism", which is a pretty neat expression and very fitting to encapsulate all the oppression and damage inflicted on non-conforming bodies.

I found the informative parts very interesting and actually, I wish that more time and pages could've been spent on such reflections. However, I think that this could be a good starting point for people completely new to such themes.

The overall structure of the book didn't entirely convince me. I think that the essay-style sections and the self-help ones didn't blend together well. It might be a bit of a "me problem" as well, as I don't do very well with the self-improvement genre.
Also, as another reviewer pointed out, the mixing of academic and more conversational language made the writing style feel a bit all over the place.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Suicide, Fatphobia, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Child death, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

Minor: Police brutality, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Addiction, Antisemitism, Dysphoria, Slavery, Eating disorder, Medical content, Cancer, Mental illness, Violence, and Excrement

emfass's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Everybody should read this book. A loving look at all the systems that have been put in place to make us hate our bodies. Sonya Renee Taylor offers us a beautiful way back to ourselves and to each other.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Racism, Sexism, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Ableism, and Misogyny

Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Suicide

spacekee's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Racism, Suicide, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Ableism, Homophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, and Islamophobia

Minor: Alcohol

kelly_e's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

Title: The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love
Author: Sonya Renee Taylor
Genre: Self-Help
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: January 25, 2018

T H R E E • W O R D S

Inspiring • Compassionate • Empowering

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies. The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength.

💭 T H O U G H T S

The Body Is Not an Apology was recommended to me as a host favourite during an event in my online bookclub. I am not really sure how it wasn't already on my radar, but I so grateful to have it recommended to me.

An introduction to body positivity, Sonya Renee Taylor opens up dialogue on the roles of systems of oppression in human dissatisfaction, discusses feminism, and explores living with intersectionality and chronic illness. I particularly liked the combination of personal stories and reflections paired with the helpful evidence and tools to help my own personal struggles with accepting my authentic self. The writing is good and I'd highly recommend listening to the audio read by the author for a truly immersive experience.

The Body Is Not an Apology was a much needed reminder of accepting my own body as it comes. As someone who deals with chronic pain and mental illness, there was a lot that struck me as highly relatable. This is certainly a book I can see myself coming back to time and time again when I need a reminder.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• feminists
• bookclubs
• everyone with a body!

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Equally damaging is our insistence that all bodies should be healthy. Health is not a state we owe the world. We are not less valuable, worthy, or lovable because we are not healthy. Lastly, there is no standard of health that is achievable for all bodies."

"When we decide that people’s bodies are wrong because we don’t understand them, we are trying to avoid the discomfort of divesting from an entire body-shame system."

"Being different is difficult in a world that tells us there is a 'normal.'" 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Eating disorder, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Ableism, Bullying, Sexism, Homophobia, Classism, Misogyny, Transphobia, Body horror, and Racism

Minor: Grief, Death, Violence, Drug use, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

overbooked207's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

📖 The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor(Second Edition) Book Review 📖

8th book of January 2023 and 8th of the year:

“Systems do not maintain themselves; even our lack of intervention is an act of maintenance. Every structure in every society is upheld by the active and passive assistance of other human beings.”

“Radical self-love demands that we see ourselves and others in the fullness of our complexities and intersections and that we work to create space for those intersections.”

I absolutely LOVED this book! It’s inclusive; the quotes, writing, and messages/reminders are beautiful and impactful; so many parts really hit me hard on a personal level; it talks about the origins of the body positivity movement and the people who started it, and it also addresses the racist, oppressive, transphobic, ableist, and sexist origins of the systems, industries, companies, etc. that thrive off of self-doubt/self-hatred that are SO important to hear/learn about; the audiobook was beautifully narrated by the author; and the cover is stunning! This quickly became an all-time favorite book that I want everyone to read, and I want to buy and re-read/annotate it hopefully soon! TWs for ableism, body shaming, bullying, classism, eating disorder, fatphobia, grief, homophobia, mental illness, racism, sexism, sexual assault, suicide, and transphobia📖💕

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Suicide, Classism, Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Grief, Sexism, and Transphobia

laurenleigh's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

The hype you’ve seen or heard is real. This is an important read, especially for women. I think I may need to buy this in print for future reference. There’s plenty of writing on body acceptance, self love, etc., but I appreciate Taylor’s unique angle of framing body shame as an apology, as something to be sorry for. It really struck a chord with me. The whole chapter on body terrorism was another novel approach to the subject. At first I thought “terrorism” was a strong word to use when describing things like how the beauty industry profits off your shame and discomfort. But Taylor rightfully reminded me that people are literally dying over these issues, such as when trans people would rather commit suicide than live in a world that constantly denies their very existence. It’s not at all a long read, and I highly recommend.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Transphobia, Body horror, and Bullying

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

This was actually what I needed. I’ve been struggling lately and I think reading this and hopefully practicing what was in this will be very helpful. I really enjoyed this because it talked about body shaming but in all manors of body, which I think is really important. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Grief, Racism, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Transphobia, Sexism, Bullying, Homophobia, and Misogyny

courtneyfalling's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

3.0

I didn't disagree with anything in this book per se but I also feel like it didn't offer anything new about unpacking fatphobia and the impacts of oppression on individual bodies or on figuring out how to radically offer yourself love. I think I had a hard time getting into it because it made very sweeping statements without describing nearly any examples or details. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Bullying

Moderate: Racism, Ableism, and Misogyny

Minor: Transphobia and Homophobia

isabelmabel49's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Sonya Renee Taylor writes in a way that feels like she's chatting with you over coffee, like she's that friend that cares about you deeply and "that's why you gotta change something, pal". She takes the notions of 'self-love' and 'self-confidence' that we're all familiar with and uses them as gateway terms for a belief/thought system that is so much more powerful and fertile for growth. Emphasizing the necessity for both strong, healthy, and considerate intrapersonal AND interpersonal relationships, Taylor genuinely gives you hope for a future that is better in all manner of ways.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

All content warnings are mentioned as educative, informative, and/or personal experiences. Explicit detail is rarely used, and much of it is in statistics to underline a point.