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*
