The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

Taylor begins by explaining what radical self-love is and isn’t. She first distinguishes it from the concepts of self-esteem and self-confidence. Self-esteem and self-confidence, she contends, are both fleeting states that can exist without radical self-love. When a person has self-esteem or self-confidence but no radical self-love, that person can become arrogant. Taylor points to former US President Donald Trump as an example.

Taylor additionally distinguishes radical self-love from self-acceptance. Self-acceptance, she argues, can often be a form of giving up and simply resigning oneself to the things that are out of one’s control. She wants people to go beyond self-acceptance and embrace something more powerful.

She goes on to examine why it’s important to center this transformation—the journey of radical self-love—on the body. The reasons for this, she argues, are simple: Everyone has a body, and the injustices of the world are inflicted upon bodies.

Taylor further unpacks the concept of radical self-love by discussing why she uses the term “radical.” She explains that one of the definitions of radical is “of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference” (6). Accordingly, Taylor proposes a kind of self-love that deals with the root or origin of who people are.