The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color

(Paperback)

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It's time to ditch harmful, outdated beauty standards and build real, lasting body love. You are beautiful. You are powerful. You are flawless! Every day we see movies, magazines, and social media that make us feel like we need to change how we look. This takes a toll on how we think about ourselves - and how we allow others to treat us. And while many teens feel shame about their body, being a teen girl of color can be hard in unique ways. Maybe you feel alienated by the mainstream image of beauty, which is still thin, white and able-bodied. In addition to that, you may also feel pressure from within your community to measure up to a different--but equally unfair--beauty standard. So, how can you start feeling good about yourself when you're surrounded by these unrealistic--and problematic--ideas about your body In Flawless, leading body image expert and creator of #LoseHateNotWeight Virgie Tovar offers an unapologetic guide to help you question popular culture and cultivate radical body positivity. With this groundbreaking book, you'll identify and challenge mainstream beliefs about beauty; understand the unique tools girls of color have to counter negative body image; and build real, lasting body empowerment. You'll also learn how to call out diet culture, and discover ways to move beyond your own inner critic and start building the unconditional love for yourself that you deserve. It's time to explode society's beauty standards, stop messing with diets, wear what you want, and recognize that your body is your business. This book will help you find your way to radical body positivity, one step at a time.

Reviews

"Every body exists the exact way it's meant to exist. While this shouldn't be a radical concept, it absolutely is. This is the book I wish I'd read when I was 14. Reading it now feels like a healing for my teenage self. The wisdom in this book is absolutely necessary for the critical paradigm shift needed to liberate young women from the toxicity of our current cultural norms. Tovar is a wealth of vibrant stories and radical insight. Armed with her tiny cactus and gigantic umbrella, she joyously jiggles a pathway to freedom and self-acceptance, illuminating the first steps for each of us to make our own individual journeys."
--Reagan Jackson, program director for Young Women Empowered, award-winning journalist, and producer and cohost of the Deep End Podcast--Rosie Molinary, MFA

"An inclusive, compassionate guidebook that champions girls and women of all ages and challenges the status quo.... A fantastic introduction to/reminder of self-love and self-advocacy. Informative, affirming, and necessary."
--Kirkus Reviews

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"In this important guide to self-acceptance written specifically for girls of color, Tovar skillfully blends calls to action, relatable personal anecdotes, and clear explanations of the forces that guide individuals' understanding of themselves.... Tovar's goal of guiding readers to recognize 'the sacred gift in every person, ' regardless of shape, ability, gender identity, socioeconomic status, sexuality, or belief system, feels possible with her steady guidance on embracing and appreciating one's body."
--Publishers Weekly starred review

-- "Publishers Weekly"
"In this conversational guidebook, the author encourages girls of color to accept and love their bodies. She points out the connections between fat phobia and racism and offers ways to promote body positivity and reject outdated beauty standards."
--Chicago Public Library, "Best Teen Nonfiction of 2020"-- "Chicago Public Library" (1/7/2021 12:00:00 AM)
"This guide for young women (and all women) discusses how to cut through the dominant narrative of mainstream beauty standards. Readers learn to question and reject narrow definitions of beauty. Tovar, a prominent activist, helps readers overcome the societal and cultural barrage of negative messaging and rewrite the narrative around their own body image. As the author unapologetically points out, one's body is one's own business--no one gets to tell someone else what they are. The book does a wonderful job of showing how young girls and women can embrace their individuality and cultivate body positivity. The journey to self-love and acceptance is not a short one, but Tovar demonstrates ways to disrupt mainstream standards, call out sham diet culture, and learn how to be comfortable and proud of one's body. VERDICT A terrific resource that shows readers how to start feeling good about their body and rewire their sense of self-worth."
--School Library Journal starred review-- "School Library Journal"
"How I wish I'd had this book in my arsenal as a fat Colombian girl growing up in the very white, mostly thin suburbs of New Jersey. I cannot wait to share it with my own daughters as they grow older. It will be an antidote to the toxic messaging on beauty standards, dieting, race, and wellness they will no doubt come into contact with. I cannot wait to share it with everyone, TBH--with those who have never heard of radical body positivity or fat acceptance before, with seasoned activists, with everyone."
--Marie Southard Ospina, MA, writer, editor, and fat acceptance advocate--Marie Southard Ospina, MA
"There is so much I can say about this fantastic, necessary, radical, beautiful, powerful book, but the main thing I want to say (well, actually, I kind of want to SHOUT it) is THANK YOU, VIRGIE! THANK YOU! Thank you for envisioning and writing a book like this, that I can give to my daughter, and every young woman I encounter. Would it be weird if I stood on the street and just handed out copies!"
--Kate Schatz, New York Times bestselling author of the Rad Women series, including Rad American Women A-Z and Rad Women Worldwide--Kate Schatz
"This book does have the power to start a revolution! Virgie tells the truth--all the truths--girls of color need to know about their bodies and their own worth, from history, to systemic oppression, to her own instructive story. Virgie brings girls a profound message that is totally accessible, never patronizing. She is a brilliant writer and thinker in body positivity, and she transmits to teen girls of color what grown women learn from her every day. There are other body positivity books out there, but this is the one the girls of color I work with truly need."
--Jennifer Berger, body image educator; and executive director of the nonprofit organization, About-Face--Jennifer Berger
"Virgie Tovar is the badass bestie we all prayed for in middle school. Her new book is a revolutionary manifesto, one that's essential reading not just for surviving the most toxic parts of modern culture, but also for embracing our own needs and power. Unflinchingly real--with page after page of quote-worthy truth bombs-- this book is a delicious call to arms for the next generation of girl rebels."
--Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University, and host of The Happiness Lab podcast--Laurie Santos

Author Bio

Virgie Tovar, MA, is one of the nation's leading experts and lecturers on fat discrimination and body image. She holds a master's degree in sexuality studies with a focus on the intersections of body size, race, and gender. She is the founder of Babecamp, a four-week online course designed to help people who are ready to break up with diet culture, and creator of the hashtag campaign #LoseHateNotWeight. Tovar edited the anthology, Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on Life, Love and Fashion; and is author of You Have the Right to Remain Fat, which was placed on the American Library Association's Amelia Bloomer List. She is a contributor for ForbesWomen and Bedsider, and was named one of the top fifty most influential feminists by Bitch Magazine. She is a recipient of the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism at Yale University. Tovar has been featured in The New York Times and Tech Insider, and on MTV, Al Jazeera, and Yahoo Health. She lives in San Francisco, CA.