The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

by Sonya Renee Taylor

Racism, sexism, ableism, homo- and transphobia, ageism, fatphobia are algorithms created by humans’ struggle to make peace with the body.

Radical self-love invites us to love our bodies in a way that transforms how we understand and accept the bodies of others. This is not to say that we magically like everyone. It simply means we have debates and disagreements about ideas and character, not about bodies.

Understanding is not a prerequisite for honor, love, or respect.

our propensity to shrink human diversity into sameness creates barriers for the bodies that do not fit our default models.

Rendering difference invisible validates the notion that there are parts of us that should be ignored, hidden, or minimized, leaving in place the unspoken idea that difference is the problem and not our approach to dealing with difference.

“But how do I break out of the fear of exploring the catacombs of my thoughts?” Great question! Answer: You are not your thoughts!

Growing up in a world which claims that thinking something is no different than acting on those thoughts and both=sin, this is a radical concept for me.

We’ve been complicit—not out of malice but because we have been groomed and raised in a system of racial injustice that has relied on our obliviousness and/or apathy to maintain its uninterrupted operation.