Essie Dennis

Fierce and unapologetically written, this is an inspiring call to arms for queer body positivity. Featuring honest advice, personal insights and powerful stories from a diverse range of queer voices, this essential book will help you love your queer body.

Finding Your Body Positivity

Queer Body Power

Sintia

Hannah

“Your body doesn’t exist just to prove something to someone else” 
this book was incredible, I don’t tend to read self help like books offen but this one was incredibly well with multiple accounts from queer people on each topic which was compelling to read through. The issues it tackles through a queer lens are so thought provoking, how people appear queer and what being queer means and looks like for people. The standards the “not looking queer enough” really well written and very well done the way the topic are covered is perfect and relatable while also being sensitive to the issues. I can’t wait for more work from this author in the future would recommend to everyone but especially queer folks!

Latitude Tamarind

I received an e-ARC of this book at no cost to me.

This book reads like an empowering research paper, which is kind of weird! It includes a lot of anecdotes from other queer people and how they navigate Being Queer, which is a Therapy Technique I certainly recognize and one that I very much benefit from, especially in this book. Another thing that really worked for me was including lists throughout the book, which were easy to take solace from; these include a list of reflections/affirmations, a list of ways to challenge negative feelings about your body, a list of tips from Essie’s own experience of understanding and accepting their identity, and a list of self-care tips. Unfortunately, one of the self-care tips is “prioritize your health”, which feels incredibly privileged and a very British thing to say; as an American, I absolutely cannot do that and also expect to have anything else left over, in terms of money or energy. 

Besides this one awful fact about the stark differences between our healthcare systems, this book addresses a lot of The Things plaguing the queer community today: mentioning commodified pride vs. actual pride; coming out over and over and over again, how when you’re on two or more spectrums, “queer” can be easier; how part of trans healthcare is that you will be forced into a restrictive diet and exercise regimen if you are over an arbitrary weight limit in order to qualify for gender affirming surgery. It asks the question: “What does the legacy of colonialism have to do with how queer bodies are treated?” (So much, as it turns out.) 

“There is nothing wrong with having lots of sex.     There is nothing wrong with having no sex.
It is your body, and therefore, your rules.
Queer sex is still sex.”

Something that I really resonated with was the note on poverty, and the sentence “The stress of being on the edge of broke still lives within my bones”, acknowledging the abject poverty that many queer people live in. It really really reminded me of Scott Benson’s writing on The Fear - “My friends and I talk about The Fear. The Fear is the awareness of living in precarity, that state of instability caused by not having security of finances, job, healthcare, etc. You get The Fear through contact — you were evicted, you lost your job, you went a long time with nothing, you lost everything, you barely scraped by.” (Read the full article here:). 

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book. I’m glad that other queer people will be able to read it soon. Four stars.

Do you believe that some things happen when you really need them in your life? That's how I felt while reading this book. I've struggled with my weight and my body for a long time and I still am. The only issue is that my body is not good enough for the people around me. I have days when I don't feel right in my skin, but there are days when I feel great. Our society idealizes skinny people, but forget that we don't have the same body types and that they change for a million different reasons. Fat phobia is everywhere even though people don't want to admit that. Skinny is related with being healthy, having wider hips or a few stretch marks no. 
I like all the things the author wrote in this book, there are so many new things I've learned about queer people and other people's experiences. It's really important to educate yourself and understand some things before say something stupid. We are all different and have our own stories and problems, this doesn't mean we are not good enough. I wish I had read this when I was a teenager. I think this will help many people not to feel alone.


Queer Body Power Finding Your Body Positivity

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