i recommend
Editor’s note
Namita Kulkarni is an artist, yoga teacher and writer. Her personal blog Radically Ever After is one of the top 50 yoga blogs in the world. For Namita, reading is an inherently political act and so we asked her to share the books that transformed her view of the world and herself. Well, it was either that or late-night desserts—which are her other great passion:)
For anyone who has been paying any attention to patriarchy’s ever-growing f***ery, you know by now that the game is rigged. There is no justice to be had from/within systems designed to oppress us. For me, books have been a lifeline. These three offer a radical rethink of our beliefs, systems and ways of living. They are relevant now more than ever because they point toward the cultural resets we can create for a better world.
The Seven Necessary Sins for Women & Girls
For anyone who is done being “nice” and settling for crumbs, this book by Mona Eltahawy will speak to your soul. Open to any page, skim through any paragraph and before you know it, you’re on fire—in the most energizing, life-affirming sense of the phrase. The seven sins are: Anger, Attention, Profanity, Ambition, Power, Violence, Lust. The very things forbidden to women are exactly what we need to disrupt patriarchy. The chapters are filled with anecdotes, news stories from various countries (including surprisingly perceptive ones from India)—offered with ruthless hilarity and a no bs precision in exposing the deceptions of the patriarchy. You will be entertained while being radicalized. Thank me later.
This book by Sonya Renee Taylor explores radical self-love as the foundation of who we are—not as another destination we need to strive toward. I first chanced upon Sonya via one of her compelling IGTV videos—which I HIGHLY recommend. If you’ve spent three minutes watching any of those, you won’t need any convincing to read her book, which includes this quote:
“Equally damaging is our insistence that all bodies should be healthy. Health is not a state we owe the world. We are not less valuable, worthy, or lovable because we are not healthy. Lastly, there is no standard of health that is achievable for all bodies.”
This resonated with me all the more as a yoga teacher working in an industry that largely thrives on equating health with self-worth. Detaching one from the other will instead improve both our self-worth and health, in that order.
C**t: A Declaration of Independence
There’s some hoes in this book (I hope you sang that?) by Inga Muscio. My favorite chapter is titled ‘Whores’. Did you know that Princess Diana once called herself the highest paid prostitute in the world? This is just one of many fascinating anecdotes and insights in this chapter about reclaiming the word ‘whore’, and the history of whoredom.
Also, I don’t know about you, but I like the idea of reclaiming the word ‘c**t’—one of the most derogatory expletives assigned to female genitalia. Coincidence much? Not in a world where misogyny is baked into our language and bursts open in our most loaded cuss words.
For a fun social experiment, read this book on public transport in a c**t-fearing society such as.. I dunno ..most of human-occupied Earth? As actor Margaret Cho said of this book, everyone who was born of a c**t should read this book. I’m inclined to agree.
PS from the editor: It is our editorial policy to asterisk most expletives out of respect for our diverse audience—even though we curse like sailors:) In this instance, it is not intended to undermine Namita’s point about the importance of reclaiming this word.
Note: This is NOT sponsored content. We use this section to spotlight the recommendations of people we trust and admire.
