The Body Liberation Project
By Chrissy King
2023 • Penguin Random House
$28.00
Description
From author and Instagram personality Chrissy King, an exciting, genre-redefining narrative mix of memoir, inspiration, and specific exercises and prompts, with timely messages about social and racial justice, and how the world needs to move beyond body positivity to something even more exciting and revolutionary—body liberation.
Simply said, diet culture is rooted in white supremacy. The notion that those who fall outside of Eurocentric standards of beauty (think Black, fat, trans, etc.) are less attractive is a message that is transmitted daily from multiple external forces or social institutions (e.g., church, government, business industries, media, and family/peer groups). Body image and beauty standards can only be truly understood within a framework of interlocking systems of “isms” – (e.g., racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism).
While it’s challenging for everyone, it’s even more complicated for those living in marginalized bodies. That being said, the solution isn’t body acceptance or even body positivity. Those may be an important part of the journey, but the answer is . . . body liberation, with the recognition that none of us are free unless all of us are free.
The Body Liberation Project is about just that. It’s about finding actual freedom in our bodies, through finding strength and the aspects of fitness that work for YOU. It’s about understanding that the goal is not to look at our bodies and love everything that we see. It’s to understand that at our essence we are so much more than our bodies. But it’s also about recognizing the harsh realities that prohibit some people from being able to do that.
Simply said, diet culture is rooted in white supremacy. The notion that those who fall outside of Eurocentric standards of beauty (think Black, fat, trans, etc.) are less attractive is a message that is transmitted daily from multiple external forces or social institutions (e.g., church, government, business industries, media, and family/peer groups). Body image and beauty standards can only be truly understood within a framework of interlocking systems of “isms” – (e.g., racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism).
While it’s challenging for everyone, it’s even more complicated for those living in marginalized bodies. That being said, the solution isn’t body acceptance or even body positivity. Those may be an important part of the journey, but the answer is . . . body liberation, with the recognition that none of us are free unless all of us are free.
The Body Liberation Project is about just that. It’s about finding actual freedom in our bodies, through finding strength and the aspects of fitness that work for YOU. It’s about understanding that the goal is not to look at our bodies and love everything that we see. It’s to understand that at our essence we are so much more than our bodies. But it’s also about recognizing the harsh realities that prohibit some people from being able to do that.
Tags: #amplifymelanatedvoices, Books, food essay, food journalism, food writing, was-preorder, women
