Sonya Renee Taylor Kicks Some Major Ass

Everyone, meet Sonya Renee Taylor! She is fucking awesome. Ms. Taylor is a slam poet, activist, and transformation leader. She has dedicated her life and her work to body acceptance, which she believes can start to undo the pain, shame, and fear that many of us carry. Her website tag line is unapologetic artistry, unapologetic healing. HOLY SHIT. How empowering is that? 

My favorite project of hers is the Body is Not an Apology movement, an intersectional, global coalition of over 32,000 people focused on radical self love and body empowerment.  She founded the movement so that all of us would claim our right to love our bodies. Ms. Taylor asserts that we must stop apologizing for how we look and how we move through this world, even as society makes that difficult. All of our bodies deserve to be accepted, embraced, and worshipped. On the community website, Ms. Taylor states,

The Body Is Not An Apology was created to remind us that we do not need to wait to feel beautiful tomorrow.  We can choose to act in honor of our bodies today, no matter the form they currently take.

So good! It dove-tails so nicely with sexual empowerment! How we view our bodies, how we connect to our bodies, and our ownership of our bodies can really affect how we express our sexual selves. If we don’t feel worthy, it is harder for us to speak up about what we do and do not want. If we are disconnected from our bodies, we have a difficult time knowing what we find pleasurable. If we don’t even feel a little bit sassy about ourselves, we struggle with celebrating our sexuality. If we continue to accept the oppression that our bodies are not good enough, then our sexuality is that much harder to embrace. 

In the spirit of the Body is Not an Apology, let’s call a truce with our selves and work on some acceptance. I, for one, will commit to wearing shorts more often, because it is time for me to embrace my inner thighs. What will you do?

- Lauren, inspired by and in awe of Sonya Renee Taylor