In a society whose identity is defined by its norms and their respective deviations, body and Self are not individual givens, but components of a sociopolitical network. What is considered normalised and socially accepted stands in contrast to the Other, the odd one out. That which is not equivalent to the defined, desirable norm. Forms of existence are hierarchised. The abnormal is, at best, exciting and interesting, yet under the constant pressure of needing to conform to an unattainable standard. The journey towards that destination demands (symbolic) bargaining. Self-care and self-love refuse to bow to the dictate of normalisation and thus automatically become political acts. Caring for the Self becomes part of the fight for survival, becomes the reconquest and maintenance of the Self and reinforces one’s own definatory power:
“If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive,” Audre Lorde, the self-proclaimed Black lesbian, feminist, mother, poet and warrior once wrote…
Read the whole magazine here.
