Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

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

17 reviews

hannicherri's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

This book is honestly great for people that struggle with body positivity or body dysmorphia, especially AFAB people. She breaks down some of the societal structures that use bodies as part of power hierarchies. Also, her narration is not boring like some other audio books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Racism, Police brutality, Transphobia, and Sexism

mxpringle's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Transphobia, Body shaming, Racism, and Sexism

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

This was a great nonfiction to start the year with. It made me stop and thing and reflect, which I really appriciate. It gave lots of tidbits that I will bring with me into the new year in how I look at my own (disabled) body as well as others. I can see the appeal of having a hardcopy to flip back on as reminders now and again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Ableism, and Sexism

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.

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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.

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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

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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

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

I appreciate the attention Taylor pays to expanding this work beyond self, showing how radical self-love can transform communities and entire systems. I don't see that focus in self-help books nearly as often as I'd like.

Beyond that, this wasn't the mindblowing, heart-opening revelation so many people promised me it would be. If it were my first exposure to the concepts that Taylor is packaging under the label "radical self-love," maybe I would be as madly in love with it as others are. But I found little here that I haven't been finding in therapy and my spiritual practice for almost a decade. tbh, I took more notes on Ijeoma Oluo's introduction than on the body of the text.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Ableism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

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.'" 

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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

bladelikesbooks's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book is about radical self love - what it is, why it’s important, and how you can work towards practising it. It is also about reflecting on your thoughts and actions. It’s also a collection of academic research, personal experiences and the experiences of Taylor’s students/clients. Taylor provides you with a toolkit to do the self love work within yourself. 

I really enjoyed reading this. I listened to the audiobook and I loved that it was narrator by the author. I prefer audiobooks of nonfiction, especially educative ones like this, because it feels like having an actual conversation with the author! This book gave me a lot to think about, it added to my perspectives, and made me reassess my own biases. That’s exactly what I wanted from it! This is definitely one I’ll be rereading multiple times. 

TWs/CWs - Ableism; Abortion; Addiction; Ageism; Antisemitism; Body shaming; Corruption; Death of a Parent; Fatphobia; Forced Imprisonment; Forced Sterilisation; Government Control; Heart Attack; Holocaust; Homophobia; Islamophobia; Kidnapping; Manipulation; Misogyny; Objectification; Oppression; Pregnancy; Police Brutality; Prison; Racism; Sexism; Sexual Harassment; Shame; Suicide; Terrorism; Torture; Toxic masculinity; Transphobia 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body shaming, Sexism, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Transphobia, Ableism, Suicide, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

Minor: Addiction, Torture, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, Abortion, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

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📖💕

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Content Warnings

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