Description

A 2023 POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR (WATERSTONES) | ‘GROUND-BREAKING’ Bernardine Evaristo | ‘UNIVERSAL AND TIMELY’ Elif Shafak | ‘IMPORTANT’ Sathnam Sanghera | ‘A GENEROUS OFFERING’ Nana Darkoa Sekiyamah | ‘QUIETLY RADICAL’ Evening Standard | ‘INTIMATE’ Guardian

What can ancestral practices teach us about how to live fuller lives today?

Upon turning forty, Afua Hirsch had an encounter that forever altered her preconceived notions of ancestry and body image, making her question everything from body-modification rituals such as tattoos and piercings to the foundations of sexuality, as well as attitudes towards puberty, ageing and death. This book charts her year-long journey of radical unlearning. Bringing together global scholarship, on-the-ground reportage, personal anecdotes and interviews with beauty experts, practitioners and service users, she reassesses notions of body image beyond those of the colonial, patriarchal gaze.

Decolonising My Body is a powerful excavation of the Eurocentric beauty standards that have long shaped how, in particular, those from the Global Majority are perceived and view themselves. Taking us from puberty to end-of-life, Hirsch shows us that the ways in which we adorn and present ourselves have spiritual implications and shape the possibilities we see for ourselves in the world.

These insights and discoveries will empower you to reconnect with your own ancestry, better understand the link between beauty, history and (respectability) politics, and liberate yourself from mainstream standards and systems that aren’t serving you.

*Co-host of the LOYALTY podcast with Peter Frankopan*

Publisher Review

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' * 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 *