Decolonising My Body: A radical exploration of rituals and beauty

Afua Hirsch's book "Decolonising My Body" explores how ancestral practices can teach us about living fuller lives today. It reassesses notions of body image beyond the colonial, patriarchal gaze and empowers readers to reconnect with their own ancestry and liberate themselves from mainstream standards and systems.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 19 October 2023
Publisher: Vintage Publishing

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, aging, 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*

Weight: 768g
Dimension: 181 x 244 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529908664