The best books for body positivity

Want to learn more about body positivity, but unsure where to start? Read on…

The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

A deeply thought provoking foray into the body positive movement, Renee Taylor truly provides the reader with a everything they need to know in The Body Is Not An Apology. Discussing the systems of oppression that surround women worldwide – such as discrimination based on race, ability, size and sexuality – this book suggests “radical self-love” as the solution to the pains they cause.

Start here if you wish to truly understand the many ways our bodies can be, and have been, marginalised over the course of this century. Through poignant anecdotes, diverse teachings and a final chapter that will resonate with many, the author opens our minds to the world around us and the small ways we can challenge its oppression every day.

Available now from Amazon and www.thebodyisnotanapology.com. Prices start from £7.25.

Body Positive Power by Megan Jane Crabbe

If you’re looking for a beginner’s guide to the body positive movement, then look no further. Body Positive Powerhas been a bestseller since its first publication in 2017, and continues to influence an entire generation of readers with its revelatory content. From ‘belly love tips’ to exploring disordered eating and body dysmorphia, BPP has all your body image queries covered.

Written by Instagram phenomenon and body positive activist, Megan Jane Crabbe (aka @bodypositivepanda), it provides a level of insight into our modern-day culture of yo-yo dieting unseen before. Its tagline promises it’ll teach the reader “how to stop dieting, make peace with your body and live” – something Crabbe truly delivers on.

Available now from Amazon, Waterstones and WHSmith and as an audio book through Audible. Prices start from £7.50.

You Have The Right To Remain Fat by Virgie Tovar

Openly “calling for the end of oppressive diet culture and embracing and accepting bodies of all sizes”, as per its blurb, Tovar has created a miniature masterpiece in the space of 121 pages. Banking on the revelation that it is to realise you can’t truly make peace with yourself while still hating your body, the author provides a manifesto on what it means to be fat in the 21st century.

Exploring the topics of self-love, skinny privilege and the fat shaming of society, this editor, expert and activist takes her typically fashion-oriented lens and turns it on society at large. If these terms are all new to you, then we’d really recommend you get your hands on a copy as soon as possible – you might just start believing you have every right to be the way you are, exactly as you are, right now.

Available now from Amazon and the Book Depository. Prices start from £4.

Am I Ugly? by Michelle Elman

The newest release of all the books in this list comes in the form of Am I Ugly? The debut novel from body positive activist and body confidence coach, Michelle Elman (better known by her social media handle, @scarrednotscared), explores her life and her own journey with the ‘bo-po’ movement. Written as a memoir, Elman speaks words that have resonated with many women across the globe – just take her 4.3-star average review on Goodreads as proof.

Recommended for anybody struggling with understanding “the complex interplay between beauty and illness”, as stated on its blurb, this is a book aimed specifically at those often cast out by society. Women larger than runway models, women who are not always in the best health and women who are living with the scars of their experiences, but are truly looking not to be scared of them any longer.

Available now from Amazon, Waterstones and www.michelleelman.com. Prices start from £8.