Your body, believe it or not, remembers everything. Sounds, smells, touches, tastes. But the memory is not held in your mind, locked somewhere in the recesses of your brain. Instead, it’s held in your body, all the way down at the cellular level. Ever notice how, on a stage full of professional dancers, everyone still moves in their own way? That’s because our cells store … [Read more...]
21 Ways Able-bodied Privilege Looks
This article originally appeared in WearYourVoiceMag.com and is reprinted by permission. Here are 21 ways that able-bodied privilege looks. Some of them are self-explanatory. Others? Well, just read on: 1. Ableist people will actually heed your call-outs about ableism: It all starts here. When you notice someone being ableist and call them out, they are more inclined to … [Read more...]
Crecer en una familia gordofóbica
En palabras inmortales de Brianna en la película clásica A por todas: Todo o Nada: “Siempre he tenido un culo grande. Viene de familia. Somos una familia culona”. Mi familia nunca hizo a los “delgados” bien. Mi padre siempre ha estado entre “normal” y “achuchable”, mi madre tenía una considerable y marcada figura de reloj de arena, y mis dos hermanos … [Read more...]
“You Sure Are Hot FOR an Asian Girl” and Other Ways Words Devalue People of Color
What do I look like? To linguistically dissect the parts of my body, to cut it apart with words, means to twist and twine it with conjunctions. This is my physical appearance: I am on the shorter side of the human height spectrum at five feet, two inches (well actually, five feet and two and three-quarters, excuse me). I am thin. I have a small nose, small ears, and small … [Read more...]
How White LGBT Spaces Erase Queer People of Colour
This article has been republished from Xtra, and is reprinted here by permission. For as long as I could remember, I had always known I was queer in some way. In the way that my feelings for girls and women around me seemed to be more intense than they were supposed to, or the way that I would feel very strange if I happened to see a sexy scene of a woman in a … [Read more...]
6 Ways to Talk to Your Kid About Suicide
1. Say something. Say anything. It becomes a question of tactics and we arrive at, “Just say something.” Because something is better than nothing when nothing may stretch to infinity. I ask my child, “How are you doing?” “Meh.” At least they are still here. Anger is better than death. Sadness is better than death. Fighting is better than death. Crying is … [Read more...]
I Was My Own Body Terrorist and My Transition Saved My Life
I was distracted. Because I was designated female at birth, I had a lot to worry about when it came to my body. Was I thin enough? Was I beautiful enough? Was I alluring, desirable, fuckable? Would anybody want me? I was a teenager immersed in beauty ideals, expectations, and ultimately, body terrorism. The sheer amount of time I spent ruminating on my weight, on my … [Read more...]
The Secret Cult of Loneliness
This article was originally published for PowellsBooks.org and is reprinted by permission from the writer. I have the distinct feeling I am not supposed to write this. As if by virtue of my melanin I have been contractually bound to an unspoken creed, the first two rules of Black Woman Fight Club: Rule #1: We do not talk about being lonely. Rule #2: We DO NOT talk about … [Read more...]
Healing the Disconnect and Starting a Revolution: Eating Disorders and Disability
In honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, TBINAA will feature stories that explore eating disorders at the intersections of our identities, sharing stories about ED from the groups that are often absent from the discussion. We believe that there must be space to tell the story of EVERY body and we are grateful to those who have shared their stories with us, so that … [Read more...]
An Open Letter For F*ckboys: Fear is at the Root of Toxic Masculinity
I’ve been told many times by my wife that men suck. Her words offended me, angered, and even irritated me - how could my wife, someone married to a man, make such a sweeping declaration? This is an open letter about how I, a recovering fuckboy, came to find her words so true and how radical self-love is changing my life. Let’s jump right into this: “Men suck.” It’s the … [Read more...]
3 Ways Black People Have Shown Solidarity with Asians That We Don’t Talk About
Asians generally don’t participate in discussions about white supremacy. Even more rare from our communities are conversations about our own active part in racism, specifically the ways we let ourselves become weaponized to perform anti-blackness. We subscribe to white supremacy’s “Model Minority Myth,” believing that we do not share the same experiences with black … [Read more...]
3 Black Feminists Who Lived Radical Self Love
I am a writer, and as such I am also a lover of words. The way some people might admire a pair of shoes, a car, or a work of art, I appreciate the masterful manipulation of language — especially when the message is both beautiful and intelligent. I regularly find inspiration between two quotation marks. My literary heroes are those who can use words like paint on a … [Read more...]
Am I Queer Enough to Claim Queerness?”
If I remember correctly, I was eight. I walked into the kitchen looking for a fork, and thought to myself, “hmm I am attracted to a girl in my class, so I guess that makes me bisexual. Hmmm,” grabbed my fork and went back to my room. I don’t remember learning the word, but I knew what it meant and how to use it. That is the earliest memory I have of me understanding what my … [Read more...]
Cuidarse a uno mismo y el trabajo social
Si le preguntases a mi madre o a mi novia cuándo hice algo equivocado, te dirán algo como, “Bueno, conociendo a Quita, ella nunca hace nada equivocado”. Pero incluso la Princesa de la Perfección tiene que admitir cuándo se equivoca. Mi viaje de cuidarme a mi misma está en un proceso en el que estoy haciendo más cosas mal de las que no. Como alguien que se ocupa en el trabajo … [Read more...]
