Decolonising My Body: A Forgotten History of Beauty

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The Sunday Times bestselling broadcaster takes us on a global exploration of ancestral beauty practices. Discover how modern mainstream Eurocentric beauty standards have evolved and how minoritized groups can transcend them by reclaiming their cultural roots. How do we determine what is beautiful Whose standards are we trying to meet when we spend our hard-earned money on our haircare, skincare and makeup; where do they come from, and how can we learn to undo them Upon getting her first tattoo at 40 years old, award-winning journalist Afua Hirsch embarked on a journey to reclaim her body from the colonial ideas of purity, adornment and ageing she - and many of us - absorbed while growing up. Informed by research from around the world, Afua will look at how individual and collective notions of what is beautiful are constructed or stripped away from us. Through personal anecdotes, interviews from beauty experts, practitioners and service users, she explores the global history of skin, hair and body modification rituals. These insights and discoveries will empower readers to reconnect with their cultures of origin, better understand the link between beauty and politics, and liberate themselves from mainstream beauty standards that aren't serving them.

Reviews

Exceptionally rich, inspiring, challenging, wise and moving. I didn't realise I needed this book until I read it and felt stirrings towards my own ancestral awakening of African female cultural beliefs and practices that were sadly long ago lost to the colonial project. This is a ground-breaking book that speaks to all women. * Bernardine Evaristo, author of 'Girl, Woman, Other' *
There's something on every page of this book that you didn't know before, or makes you look at things a new. An important publication.
Decolonising my Body is both a generous offering, and a joy filled testimony. Afua skilfully pulls us into her world, and generously allows us to accompany her on a journey of questioning and unpacking notions of beauty. This exploration lights a path for all people who seek to (re)connect with more expansive understandings of beauty.
Afua has cut through so much of the noise to provide an enlightening and necessary reflection on how we can learn from the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors to become spiritually healthier humans. This book is a knowledge gift to us all. * Naomi Evans, author of 'The Mixed Race Experience', co-Founder of Everyday Racism *
The journalist, commentator and author of Brit(ish) reflects on twelve months radical unlearning of Eurocentric and patriarchal conventions of beauty in this powerful and challenging volume. * Waterstones, 'Best Books of 2023: Politics' *
A remarkable journey to unlearn western beauty standards and explore ancestral skin, hair and body modification rituals. * Observer *
Disarmingly honest... quietly radical * Evening Standard *
Praise for Brit(ish): Highly personal and yet instantly universal, this is a book that millions will instantly relate to. The book for our divided and dangerous times. * David Olusoga, author of 'Black and British' *
Praise for Brit(ish): A warm, informative and occasionally heart-wrenching blend of personal and political and the messiness between the two' * Nikesh Shukla, author of 'The Good Immigrant' *

Author Bio

Afua Hirsch is a writer, filmmaker, and journalist. She is the author of Brit(ish), the Sunday Times bestselling book that explores Britishness, identity and belonging, for which she was awarded the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize for Non-Fiction. She co-presented Enslaved, a 6-part series about the transatlantic slave trade with Samuel L Jackson. She is also the presenter of the Audible podcast series We Need To Talk About the British Empire, and Africa Rising, an ongoing flagship series about art and culture for the BBC, through the production company she founded, Born in Me Productions. She is a longtime columnist for the Guardian and is a professor of journalism at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.