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“I’m not the average girl from your video
And I ain’t built like a supermodel
But I learned to love myself unconditionally,
Because I am a queenI’m not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I’m wearing I will always be
India.Arie”
–Acoustic Soul by India Arie
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Spending a morning staring at oneself was hardly the short path to peace of mind. It was the mirror, after all, that had driven Snow White’s stepmother around the bend with its unrelentingly frank assessment of the situation.
–Calling Invisible Women
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At the age of twenty-one, I got my first tattoo. I drove to Rhode Island with two of my friends, since tattoos were illegal in Massachusetts at the time.
After experiencing a great amount of pain for two hours, my beautiful tattoo was finished. I was so proud of it, I went to a party afterward and showed off my bloody and inky bandages to many partygoers. This was the first time I ever showed off an area of my body with pride and excitement.
My first tattoos didn’t have deep, significant meanings to me, but they provided me with a sense of pride in my body, which I never had before, and I got hooked.”
–Chick Ink: 40 Stories of Tattoos–And the Women Who Wear Them
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“[The Bible] says: “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.” A rabbi’s interpretation says that your body belongs to God, and you shall not defile it. I see it more like your body is a rental unit, and God is the property owner—so don’t mess it up. What I’m not sure about is whether or not getting a tattoo is an evictable offense, or more likely just something that will eat up a little of my deposit when it’s time to move on. What I do know is that while I am living here, it is my home, and I want to feel comfortable in it.”
–Chick Ink: 40 Stories of Tattoos–And the Women Who Wear Them