The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color (The Instant Help Solutions Series)

Had I had this resource of tools when I was a kid, I would have actually loved myself in spite of the hate.

I wish, wish, wish I had had this book to read when I was younger! Virgie Tovar's Self-Love Revolution is a primer on oppression and self-love as an act of resistance. Through the lens of her own experiences surviving bullying and discrimination related to culture, skin color and appearance, Virgie Tovar lays out the whys, wherefores and how-tos of a meaningful life as a young woman in a gender-biased society.The thing is, this isn't really just a book. It's a course. It's a program. It's a journey. It's a series of questions that beg more questions, all of which get at the core of: how do I feel about my body and myself? why might I feel those ways? how can I support myself to have an easier time in this world built on other peoples' biases?Ms. Tovar's language is anecdotally accessible ... reading this book is like sitting with her at her favorite Boba place and listening to her talk about pivotal moments in her life. However, it's not just one woman's testimony that upholds the thesis of Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color. Ms. Tovar draws on research and scholarship by herself as well as numerous experts from intersectional feminist communities.She tells readers everything I wish I had learned when I was a teen and began my own journey with disordered eating.She tells readers what I wish I had felt when I grappled alone with my first peer sexual assault.Respectfully, tells readers how to take care of themselves even when the grown adults in their lives don't necessarily have the tools to do this without passing on harmful and oppressive beliefs.I recommend this book to young people who identify as female without reservation. I myself am white, of a culturally mixed family background, and I benefitted greatly from the book's mention and unpacking of cultural, ethnic and skin-tone bias. But more importantly I can see how this aspect of The Self-Love Revolution would be extremely important to young people of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian heritage and to young people with disabilities or who feel in any other way marginalized.Though this book is for young adults, I recommend it to any person who identifies as female (especially cis women) who want to learn how and why to practice steady self-care as a form of resistance.Note: Though the book seems clearly written for young cis women and young people who were assigned female at birth, The Self-Love Revolution nods numerous times to the existence of more than two genders and of the necessity to incorporate all people into a body-positive society, regardless of gender expression.

This text gave me new ways to think about concepts that I felt in some way I had already mastered. I'm a college professor, a feminist/womanist, and a Woman of Color in my late 20s (and a libra). Yet, the truth is that self-love and radical body positivity is a journey. Tovar reminded me just how entrenched our cultural messaging is, that even when we feel or sense something is off (i.e. toxic) in our culture, or know something intellectually, it takes so much work to unlearn this conditioning and see ourselves (and each other's bodies) with loving eyes. Tovar gave me tangible ways to examine how I have let fatphobia and body shaming still linger in my life and how I can begin to resist these practices that do not serve me. I really appreciated Tovar's accessible writing style and her own vulnerability in sharing parts of her story. Her writing reminded me of the rare moment in my life when I was crying and a friend of mine wiped the tears off my face with her bare hands, unafraid to touch the materialized matter of my pain. Tovar did that for me with this text. I'm in love with Virgie and hope I get to meet her one day... and her tiny cactus buddy.While reading this book I found myself getting up to do things I had never done before, like promise myself to wear that top I bought 5+ years ago that I have been too afraid to wear because I felt my body wasn't perfect to pull it off. I felt so silly, like why did I do this to myself? I should know better. But Virgie helps validate the answer to that, to live unapologetically in our bodies is revolutionary, and we have been conditioned not to step into our power. This book has definitely changed my life and will sit with me for a long time. Long live the self-love revolution!

I received a free copy of The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.Girls of Color receive so many, often mixed, messages about the standard of beauty. I remember growing up, and internalizing the societal standard on how my body should look, and how light my skin should be. I didn’t have, or know about, a guide such as The Self-Love Revolution, to refer to and understand how racism and sexism (and many more -isms) impact the standard of beauty. I didn’t learn these lessons until I was an adult. By that time, I had to unlearn the messages I was taught as a girl.The Self-Love Revolution is an outstanding, social justice oriented guide for teenaged girls of color. It is age appropriate and easy to read. There are also journal prompts included in each chapter, which allows the reader to reflect on what they’ve read and really understand how the concepts discussed apply to their life.I think it would be beneficial to include a glossary of the terms discussed within the guide. There are a lot of heavy terms introduced and defined within the book, and it would be helpful to give the girls a quick glossary to look at, instead of having to search through the book.Overall, I was very pleased by this book. It’s meaningful and very much needed for girls of color. Great job Virgie Tovar!