Teaching Inclusivity and Self-Love to Young Girls

Let’s ditch society’s standards of beauty and instill radical self-love and body positivity instead.

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.

Raise your hand if you are a woman of color, and as a young girl, felt like you didn’t quite fit into society’s standard of beauty. You can’t see me right now but my hand is way up in the air. Unfortunately, I bet many of you’re hands are raised too.

I think we can all agree that growing up, our childhood was marred with unrealistic expectations of beauty. I’ve talked about this topic at length before, and would rather not let it continue to narrate my story any longer. But I can say, that while I let those foolish messages and images convince me that my self-worth relied solely on my outer appearance, I’ve grown past that. However, as a mother, the narrative can still have power over my life.

Thankfully, we live in a world that evolves. Those poisoned messages are still out there, sure, but there are now courageous heroes to fight against them. Enter Virgie Tovar’s book, The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color. In a society that tells girls and women what they should look like and who they should be, it was amazing to read a narrative that combats that. Specifically speaking to girls of color, The Self-Love Revolution puts into question the standards of beauty and reminds us that all bodies/hair types/skin colors are equally worthy of love, care, and most importantly respect.

Tovar offers an unapologetic guide to help you question popular culture and cultivate radical body positivity. As a momma, it’s my duty to instill self-love and a sense of self because I don’t want Remy to ever feel the way I did as a kid. And Tovar’s book is serving as one of my manuals. I love that it includes journal prompts because they serve as a discussion topic and a time to reflect. The book also does a great job of giving practical advice and tools for parents to help encourage self-love.

As parents, we must be examples to our kids. Simple things like implementing healthy habits at home can make a world of a difference in encouraging healthy living. My motto: move, and eat, for the sake of pleasure. It should never be about what you’re body looks like. NEVER. And I want Remy to truly live by that motto.

The Self-Love Revolution was really powerful because it helped me realize that I need to encourage Remy to celebrate who she is and how God made her. That she is powerful in her body, no matter her size, and that self-love and self-worth, runs deeper than appearance. I truly want to encourage other momma’s and women of color to read Virgie Tovar’s, The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color. Let’s work together to helping raise a strong generation of self-assured, confident women!