All of Me
Stories of Love, Anger, and the Female Body
With women’s anger, empowerment, and the critical importance of intersectional feminism taking center stage in much of the dialogue happening in feminist spaces right now, an anthology like this has never been more important. The voices in this collection of essays and interviews offer perspectives and experiences that help women find common ground, unity, and allyship.
Through personal essays and interviews about what it is like to live as a woman (cis + trans) in this modern world—with all of our love, anger, complexities, and desires for justice—All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger, and the Female Body includes vulnerable, painful truths and bold inspiration.
This anthology is for seasoned feminists and young feminists alike—anyone looking to find inspiration in radical activism, creativity, healing, and more. This book covers topics of social and economic justice, creativity, racism, transgender perspectives, sexuality, sex work, addiction and recovery, reproductive rights, assault, relationship dynamics, families, fitting and not fitting in, radical self-care, witchcraft, and more.
If love and anger are two sides of the same coin, for women there are worlds to be explored with every flip of that coin. Readers will find a glimpse into those worlds in the pages of All of Me.
Contributors include Silvia Federici, Michelle Cruz Gonzales, Ariel Gore, Laurie Penny, Lidia Yuknavitch, Christine No, Kandis Williams, Vatan Doost, Deya, Phoenix LeFae, Anna Silastre, Michel Wing, Bethany Ridenour, Lorelle Saxena, Airial Clark, Patty Stonefish, Nayomi Munaweera, Melissa Madera, Margaret Elysia Garcia, Leilani Clark, Ariel Erskine, Wendy-O Matik, Kara Vernor, Starhawk, adrienne maree brown, Gerri Ravyn Stanfield, Sanam Mahloudji, Melissa Chadburn, Avery Erickson, and Milla Prince.
Praise
All of Me celebrates rage as a way to reject a culture that isolates women from one another. Such a necessary read!
– Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger
All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger, and the Female Body is not your typical feminist anthology, mostly because it busts open binaries, gender and otherwise, in brave and fierce ways. I have been thinking about the importance of feminism with regards to intimacy—in relation to ourselves, to our stories, to our work, to each other, and to the planet. This wide-ranging collection of stories and interviews is deeply intimate in all of these ways. All of Me brings you on a journey through people’s lives, connecting you to each story, whether the writers and storytellers are sharing personal narratives or ideas, they tell them in intimate, courageous, and beautiful ways. Bravo to Dani Burlison for creating the space for all these diverse and inclusive stories to be shared. By the way, reading this book will crack you open towards feeling more compassion and love. Read it. Read it out loud. Buy it for everyone you know. And then read it again.
– carla bergman, coauthor, Joyful Militancy: Thriving Resistance in Toxic Times
An incredible array of voices gather together in this tightly-packed, raucous anthology. If ever you felt the need to focus feelings of deep anger, All of Me serves as an almost step-by-step manual of rage.
– Inga Muscio, author of Cunt: A Declaration of Independence and Rose: Love in Violent Times
These stories of resilience center the voices and experiences often overlooked and unheard. All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger, and the Female Body is just what is needed to balance the torrents of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and violence filling our everyday newsfeeds.
– Victoria Law, author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women
Visceral, raw, and personal, All of Me is the barbaric yawp of womanhood unrestrained. Ranging from the confessional to the call to action, this collection of deeply personal writings tears back the veil of womanhood to show the glorious and gritty guts of it all. Unfiltered, unadulterated, open; witness the wounds and the wisdom of what it means to be a woman today.
– Lasara Firefox Allen, author of Jailbreaking the Goddess: A Radical Revisioning of Feminist Spirituality
Contents
| Introduction | Dani Burlison |
| Chama Christine No |
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| Explicit Violence Lidia Yuknavitch |
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| Grab My Pussy, I Dare You Michelle Cruz Gonzales |
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| On Anger and the Black Female Body an interview with Artist Kandis Williams |
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| Tales of a Culture-Straddling Resident Alien Vatan Doost |
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| Fear, Safety, and the Realities of an Undocumented Student in a Border State an interview with Deya |
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| I’m a Hysterical Woman Phoenix LeFae |
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| How the European Witch Hunts Continue to Influence Violence against Women around the World an interview with Silvia Federici |
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| Dear Man with the Indigo Cardigan Anna Silastre |
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| Fire and Ice Dani Burlison |
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| Fear, Anger, and Hexing the Patriarchy an interview with Ariel Gore |
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| Ink Michel Wing |
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| Merging Sacred and Mundane Bethany Ridenour |
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| Notes on Racism, Trauma, and Self-Care from a Woman of Color an interview with acupuncturist Lorelle Saxena |
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| Locking Doors Airial Clark |
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| Violence, Generational Trauma, and Women’s Empowerment in Indigenous Communities an interview with Patty Stonefish of Arming Sisters |
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| Thoughts on Mother’s Day Nayomi Munaweera |
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| On Sharing Our Stories an interview with Melissa Madera of The Abortion Diary Podcast |
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| In the Belly of Fuckability Margaret Elysia Garcia |
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| Last Drink Leilani Clark |
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| How to Be A Genderqueer Feminist Laurie Penny |
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| Coming Out as Trans in a Small Hometown an interview with artist Ariel Erskine |
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| Origin Wendy-O Matik |
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| Fucking Patriarchy through Radical Relationships Wendy-O Matik |
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| What’s Money Got to Do, Got to Do with It? Kara Vernor |
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| Demystifying Sex Work an interview with P.A. |
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| Auntie Starhawk’s Sex Advice for Troubled Times Starhawk |
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| Love as Political Resistance: Lessons from Audre Lorde and Octavia Butler adrienne maree brown |
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| Burnout, Sacred Leadership, and Finding Balance an interview with Gerri Ravyn Stanfield |
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| What Is a Home? Sanam Mahloudji |
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| Discovering the Radical Possibility of Love Melissa Chadburn |
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| Desert Rain Avery Erickson |
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| Transmigration Milla Prince |
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| Acknowledgements | |
| Contributors |
