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.
If someone would have told me that I’d be the mother of two beautiful teenagers back in the day, I wouldn’t believe them. I swore that I wasn’t going to be a mom when I was a kid. I didn’t see myself as a mother. But here I am, four kids later, loving this journey called motherhood.
It hasn’t always been easy raising teenaged girls, though. The unrealistic expectations and pressures they feel are more than I could have imagined at their ages. Social media plays such a big role in their lives when it comes to what they should look like, what they should wear, and what dances they should know how to do, etc. It’s sometimes hard for me to give advice on things that I may or may not relate to. But as their mother, I’ve had to make it my commitment to encourage them to love themselves despite it all.
I recently read Virgie Tovar’s, The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color with my daughters. Honestly, this book couldn’t have came into our lives at a more perfect time. It felt like my daughters had an extra Auntie speaking to them through this book. Tovar offers an unapologetic guide to help you question popular culture and cultivate radical body positivity. I loved the journal prompts because I think they can help girls of color show up as their best selves. With the extra free time we’ve had at home due to this pandemic, I’ve been using those journal prompts in the book to start thought-provoking discussions with my girls. Tovar does a great job of giving practical advice and tools for parents, like myself, to help encourage self-love.
“Self-love is about recognizing and accepting that you are precious and valuable – unconditionally – and creating a life that honors that truth.”
As a teenager, I struggled with self-love myself. According to the idea of “sexy” in our culture – my butt wasn’t big enough, my skin wasn’t light enough, my hair wasn’t long enough, etc. Don’t get me wrong – I considered myself a confident person, but as Tovar says, “you deserve more than that.”
I lacked self-love.
Now I’m raising two teenagers with totally different outlooks on life but similar struggles. My 14-year-old dislikes that she is tall and slim, while my 16-year-old dislikes that she is short and wants to be slimmer. Tovar’s book helped us understand the ways that negative body image manifests in people of color. It’s time to change that.
I shared The Self-Love Revolution with my daughters because it is a powerful reminder for them to reflect on their perception and definition of self-love as they transition to adulthood. At this point in their life, I felt that a guide like this is necessary to build long-lasting body positivity.
I want them to always know that it’s okay to be exactly who you are. Because that is who you’re meant to be.
I encourage you to share The Self-Love Revolution with the young women in your life too, and help raise a powerful generation of confident young women.
How do you plan on encouraging self-love to your daughter as she grows?
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