Five essential reads for deepening your understanding and connection with your body

Bodies—something that all of us, especially women, look at everyday and dissect piece by piece. We scrutinise, criticise, and sometimes struggle to embrace the very vessel that carries us through life. This month’s book suggestions will offer you a new vision that celebrates the many ways our bodies tell our unique stories. From the raw, tender transformations of a woman’s body after pregnancy, the strength and resilience of differently-abled bodies, the complex narratives surrounding contraception, to the courageous journeys of gender transitioning, I hope each book beckons you to love yourself a little more everyday.

In The Grammar of My Body: A Memoir, author Abhishek Anicca offers a deeply introspective narrative on living with disability and chronic illness. Through his essays, he explores themes of self-care, dignity, and desire, particularly as a queer and differently-abled man. His writing, marked by radical vulnerability, addresses the harsh realities of chronic pain, media representation, and the proximity of death. His informal, yet piercingly honest, writing brings readers close to his experiences and reveals truths with a wry urgency.

Kate Muir’s Everything You Need to Know About the Pill, which is a comprehensive guide to contraception, draws on interviews with leading experts and personal stories. Muir debunks myths, exposes flawed science, and challenges patriarchal views. This book calls for a long-overdue reform in women’s healthcare, providing valuable insights and advocating for equality in medical treatment.

I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition by Lucy Sante intertwines her life’s journey with her recent transition to inner and outer alignment. Born in Belgium, Sante found solace in New York City’s bohemian scene in the 1970s. Despite a successful writing career, she struggled with her identity, which she realised was a façade. This memoir reveals her heartfelt transition after 60 years as a man.

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder is a tale of appetites: physical hunger, sexual desire, spiritual longing, and the ways humans compartmentalise these interdependent instincts so often. Rachel, a lapsed Jew obsessed with calorie restriction, maintains a façade of control while working at a talent agency. Her therapist’s suggestion for a communication detox from her mother leads Rachel to Miriam, an orthodox Jewish woman. Entranced by Miriam’s faith and generosity, Rachel embarks on a transformative journey of self-discovery.

Matrescence by Lucy Jones is an urgent exploration of modern motherhood, aiming to free parents from oppressive norms. It raises crucial questions about femininity, interdependence, and identity, highlighting the profound physiological, psychological, and social changes women undergo during pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood. Jones introduces the concept of ‘matrescence’, revealing the overlooked, transformative nature of motherhood, and critiquing the patriarchal and capitalist systems that marginalise maternal experiences.

Images: Courtesy Amazon.in; Simon & Schuster; Penguin Random House India; Google.co.in

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