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Decolonising My Body: A Radical Exploration of Rituals and Beauty
How do we determine what is beautiful? Whose standards are we trying to meet when we spend our hard-earned money on our haircare, skincare and makeup; where do they come from, and how can we learn to undo them?
Upon getting her first tattoo at forty years old, award-winning journalist Afua Hirsch embarked on a journey to reclaim her body from the colonial ideas of purity, adornment and ageing that she--and many of us--absorbed while growing up.
Informed by research from around the world, Hirsch examines how individual and collective notions of what is beautiful are constructed or stripped from us. Through personal anecdotes, interviews from beauty experts, practitioners, and service users, she explores the global history of skin, hair, and body modification rituals and how it has affected how we see ourselves. These insights and discoveries will empower readers to reconnect with their cultures of origin, better understand the link between beauty and politics, and liberate themselves from the mainstream beauty standards that aren't serving them.
Upon getting her first tattoo at forty years old, award-winning journalist Afua Hirsch embarked on a journey to reclaim her body from the colonial ideas of purity, adornment and ageing that she--and many of us--absorbed while growing up.
Informed by research from around the world, Hirsch examines how individual and collective notions of what is beautiful are constructed or stripped from us. Through personal anecdotes, interviews from beauty experts, practitioners, and service users, she explores the global history of skin, hair, and body modification rituals and how it has affected how we see ourselves. These insights and discoveries will empower readers to reconnect with their cultures of origin, better understand the link between beauty and politics, and liberate themselves from the mainstream beauty standards that aren't serving them.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published October 19, 2023
About the author
Afua Hirsch
13 books153 followersAfua Hirsch is a British writer and broadcaster. She has worked as a journalist for The Guardian newspaper, and was the Social Affairs and Education Editor for Sky News from 2014 until 2017. She is the author of the 2018 book Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, receiving a Jerwood Award while writing it.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 17, 2023
After turning forty, Afua Hirsch embarked on what she dubbed her “year of adornment” a mixture of personal and political quest, which used her own experiences as the starting point for a wider inquiry and series of reflections on her disrupted bodily heritage. Her focus is on ways of being in the world, her embodied self and how it echoed her position as a woman of colour who grew up in a predominantly white, Western society. Hirsch wanted to find out more about her lost “ancestral legacies” and how these might trouble Eurocentric notions of physical and spiritual beauty. Her journey takes in puberty rituals and how these connect to rites of passage from the onset of menstruation to menopause. She examines forms of knowledge handed down from generation to generation that sustained and centred women of colour, forms displaced or shattered by the broader project of European colonialism and its devastating impact on notions of the relations between mind and body. An invasive process that was as much spiritual as it was physical, weaponizing belief systems like Christianity.
It's a short book, barely 200 pages but it draws on a rich array of sources from conversations with artists like Majida Khattari to the thoughts of writers like Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde. Not quite as incisive as I’d hoped and some sections felt a little too disjointed and meandering at times but still compelling, engaging and intriguing. I found some elements a little eyebrow-raising, possibly because I’m far too steeped in Western concepts of the divide between mind and body. But I was fascinated by much of Hirsch’s discussion particularly the sections on tattoos and scarification, and the exploration of the politics of hair removal which brought in images of the legendary Queen of Sheba to the cultural significance of waist beads to Rihanna’s phenomenally successful make-up line.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Square Peg for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
It's a short book, barely 200 pages but it draws on a rich array of sources from conversations with artists like Majida Khattari to the thoughts of writers like Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde. Not quite as incisive as I’d hoped and some sections felt a little too disjointed and meandering at times but still compelling, engaging and intriguing. I found some elements a little eyebrow-raising, possibly because I’m far too steeped in Western concepts of the divide between mind and body. But I was fascinated by much of Hirsch’s discussion particularly the sections on tattoos and scarification, and the exploration of the politics of hair removal which brought in images of the legendary Queen of Sheba to the cultural significance of waist beads to Rihanna’s phenomenally successful make-up line.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Square Peg for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
March 28, 2023
It is impossible to emphasise how important this book is going to be. I was completely engrossed from the get go, and now, having finished want to go back to the beginning and read it again. There’s so much to learn from Afua’s work and I’ll definitely be reflecting on her words for a long time. I can’t wait to discuss this book once it’s out in the world.
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September 9, 2023Not what I expected — better.
September 13, 2024
Finally finished decolonising my body!! This book is filled with such beautiful and intimate stories and wisdom on rituals and beauty related to womanhood. Reading it felt like talking to a friend who has taken the time to reveal their inner self to you. Afua has such incredible and vast knowledge of decolonial and feminist literature. She weaves these complex ideas into her stories with such ease, offering so many layers of meaning and depth to the book.
I found it hard to sometimes follow the thread of the story as many times there are sub stories but overall the message got through. I am not sure if someone who has no knowledge could follow this tbh. My favourite part was the chapter on tattooing and reclaiming this practise.
I found it hard to sometimes follow the thread of the story as many times there are sub stories but overall the message got through. I am not sure if someone who has no knowledge could follow this tbh. My favourite part was the chapter on tattooing and reclaiming this practise.
September 10, 2024
Beautiful person, beautiful writing! Could read books by Afua over and over!
February 18, 2024
This book wasn't quite what I expected it to be, and I found it to be a little muddled and meandering, and lacking focus. It felt like a number of different magazine articles or essays loosely linked rather than a more coherent exposition of both the personal journey that Hirsch has made to reclaim her heritage as a black woman, and the broader societal issues this throws up.
January 18, 2024
This book is about Hirsch reclaiming her body, empowerment and learning and embracing your background and ancestors. This is Hirsch's own 'Eat Pray and Love' except it is so much more better.
It is a quest for seeking out her lost ancestral legacies which has been distrupted by colonialism, globalisation, capitalism, totalitarianism and conflict. Whilst deconstructing Western and European ideologies. Such a powerful and inspiring read that is exceptionally written. Deeply moving and really does make you want to tap into your ancestral background a must-read book. 4.85*
Quotes/
'People of today, how small you are beside your ancestors.' ~ Proverb from ancient Mali.
'We wish two things for our children: the first is roots; second is wings. ~ Sudanese Proverb.
'You don't get to choose the circumstance of your birth or privilege. But you do get to choose what you do with it, whether you enjoy it quietly to the continuing detriment of others, or whether you make yourself useful in exposing how it works.'
'The strength of the stream is diminished after entering the river.' ~Akan Proverb.
Meaning: your status here, is different in another land.
'That the story we inherit from our ancestors shapes us. And one of the things it empowers us to do is found a new lineage, honouring its stories, and our own.'
'Although the ocean is massive and powerful, it was preceded by the rock.' ~ Akan proverb.
It is a quest for seeking out her lost ancestral legacies which has been distrupted by colonialism, globalisation, capitalism, totalitarianism and conflict. Whilst deconstructing Western and European ideologies. Such a powerful and inspiring read that is exceptionally written. Deeply moving and really does make you want to tap into your ancestral background a must-read book. 4.85*
Quotes/
'People of today, how small you are beside your ancestors.' ~ Proverb from ancient Mali.
'We wish two things for our children: the first is roots; second is wings. ~ Sudanese Proverb.
'You don't get to choose the circumstance of your birth or privilege. But you do get to choose what you do with it, whether you enjoy it quietly to the continuing detriment of others, or whether you make yourself useful in exposing how it works.'
'The strength of the stream is diminished after entering the river.' ~Akan Proverb.
Meaning: your status here, is different in another land.
'That the story we inherit from our ancestors shapes us. And one of the things it empowers us to do is found a new lineage, honouring its stories, and our own.'
'Although the ocean is massive and powerful, it was preceded by the rock.' ~ Akan proverb.
October 17, 2023
Having loved Hirsch's 'Brit-ish', I was delighted to see that her new book picked up on similar ideas and took them further, acting as a wise and insightful book on the ways that we move through the world.
Mining through her family history, and looking to the future, Hirsch walks the reader through a set of personal and thoughtful reflections on what it means to give yourself to the world, whether capitalism or your family, what it means to wear certain styles of clothing and hair, and what it means to resist the received ideas of what is 'correct.'
She is a writer who I always find deeply engaging for the ways that she does not need to find a concrete answer to be satisfied that the journey was worth it.
I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Mining through her family history, and looking to the future, Hirsch walks the reader through a set of personal and thoughtful reflections on what it means to give yourself to the world, whether capitalism or your family, what it means to wear certain styles of clothing and hair, and what it means to resist the received ideas of what is 'correct.'
She is a writer who I always find deeply engaging for the ways that she does not need to find a concrete answer to be satisfied that the journey was worth it.
I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
October 21, 2023
I was very kindly given an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley and Random House / Square Peg.
It may be short book, but Afua Hirsch packs a mighty punch with a deep exploration of beauty and rituals, more specifically related to her own heritage. Not dissimilarly to Emma Daibiri's recent book 'Disobedient Bodies', it attempts to deconstruct the Western ideals of beauty as the author goes on their own journey to discovering radical self-acceptance. Regardless of who you are, I think there's something to be gained from this book, even if it's just how unattainable so many standards of beauty are and how we should be listening to our own bodies and doing things that are good for us rather than trying to fit into an impossible mould given to use by people on Instagram.
'Decolonising My Body' is available now.
It may be short book, but Afua Hirsch packs a mighty punch with a deep exploration of beauty and rituals, more specifically related to her own heritage. Not dissimilarly to Emma Daibiri's recent book 'Disobedient Bodies', it attempts to deconstruct the Western ideals of beauty as the author goes on their own journey to discovering radical self-acceptance. Regardless of who you are, I think there's something to be gained from this book, even if it's just how unattainable so many standards of beauty are and how we should be listening to our own bodies and doing things that are good for us rather than trying to fit into an impossible mould given to use by people on Instagram.
'Decolonising My Body' is available now.
October 16, 2023
Decolonising My Body was like a conversation with a wise friend who has thought deeply about the issues you've vaguely considered but never examined fully.
Hirsch navigates white supremacy and late stage capitalism by going back to basics, listening to her own body and the words and traditions of her ancestors. There's a message for all of us here, asking us to examine our own preconceptions and actions, asking whether they're helpful for us to hold on to. Have we discarded older healthy ways of being in the quest for conformity with ideals we don't even believe in?
A very thought provoking read.
Hirsch navigates white supremacy and late stage capitalism by going back to basics, listening to her own body and the words and traditions of her ancestors. There's a message for all of us here, asking us to examine our own preconceptions and actions, asking whether they're helpful for us to hold on to. Have we discarded older healthy ways of being in the quest for conformity with ideals we don't even believe in?
A very thought provoking read.
May 5, 2024
I wish this had been longer!
This is a beautiful and rich exploration of a very personal level for Hirsch, who in this book describes her year-long journey to connect with her heritage and seek ancestral wisdom. The journey ties into the body in many ways, and I found the chapter on tattoos especially wonderful.
The only tiny minus points come from the celebrity anecdotes, which, aside from the Oprah one at the beginning of the book, we could’ve also done without, I think.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy.
This is a beautiful and rich exploration of a very personal level for Hirsch, who in this book describes her year-long journey to connect with her heritage and seek ancestral wisdom. The journey ties into the body in many ways, and I found the chapter on tattoos especially wonderful.
The only tiny minus points come from the celebrity anecdotes, which, aside from the Oprah one at the beginning of the book, we could’ve also done without, I think.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy.
November 7, 2023
Incredible!
I thought this would be…actually I expected it to be a political narrative on Western ideas of beauty. Instead I found a beautiful ode to culture, spirituality and heritage.
I found roots that led me to people I didn’t know I was connected to. I found a language to describe femininity not only as I experienced it but as generations before me did.
Difficult truths, entangled realities and blurry lines that separate what was with what is.
Wild and beautiful story by a story teller I truly truly admire.
I thought this would be…actually I expected it to be a political narrative on Western ideas of beauty. Instead I found a beautiful ode to culture, spirituality and heritage.
I found roots that led me to people I didn’t know I was connected to. I found a language to describe femininity not only as I experienced it but as generations before me did.
Difficult truths, entangled realities and blurry lines that separate what was with what is.
Wild and beautiful story by a story teller I truly truly admire.
September 18, 2024
This book is a must read. Particularly if you are a black woman of the diaspora wanting to release yourself from the impact and dissociation of colonialism and its influence of how we may perceive ourselves.
This book is an opportunity to discover the self.
This book is an opportunity to discover the self.
October 7, 2024
It’s a personal journey but I completely get it. Like there was the Afro hair movement then the love your skin one then don’t allow people police your body hairs etc but it’s a personal one. A collection of essays or chapters around the title that comes full circle to include a healing cat.
March 28, 2024
This was beautiful, although it got a bit dry at times. I marked up quite a lot of sections.
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September 28, 2024This was a radical book, in the sense of all the history and racism it is fighting against. Brilliant brilliant book
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews