Brown Girl Like Me: The Essential Guidebook and Manifesto for South Asian Girls and Women

Description

You might feel that this fight is too big for you. How on earth can you dismantle so many complex, long-standing systems of oppression? My answer: piece by piece. Brown Girl Like Me is an inspiring memoir and empowering manifesto that equips women with the confidence and tools they need to navigate the difficulties that come with an intersectional identity. Jaspreet Kaur unpacks key issues such as the media, the workplace, the home, education, mental health, culture, confidence and the body, to help South Asian women understand and tackle the issues that affect them, and help them be in the driving seat of their own lives. Jaspreet pulls no punches, tackling difficult topics from mental health and menstruation stigma to education and beauty standards, from feminism to cultural appropriation and microaggressions. She also addresses complex issues, such as how to manage being a brown feminist without rejecting your own culture, and why Asian girls - the second highest performing group of students in the country - aren't seen in larger numbers in universities and head offices. Interviews with brilliant South Asian Women of all walks of life as well as academic insight show what life is really like for brown women in the diaspora. Part toolkit, part call-to-arms, Brown Girl Like Me is essential reading for South Asian women as well as people with an interest in feminism and cultural issues, and will educate, inspire and spark urgent conversations for change.

Jaspreet Kaur, also known by her online handle 'Behind the Netra' is the author of Brown Girl Like Me and an award-winning spoken word artist, history teacher and writer from London. She is passionate about gender issues, taboo subjects and encouraging positive social change in both the Asian community and wider society. Her work tackles issues related to gender discrimination, mental health stigma, the postcolonial immigrant experience, and more. She is a regular on the BBC and Sunday Morning Live and worked with the UN on the 'HeforShe' campaign. In 2020 she was awarded the Ben Pimlott Writer in Residency at Birkbeck University as a Research Fellow with the Politics Department and was Artist in Residence with the Spine Festival, led by Apples and Snakes.

Jaspreet voices all the taboos of a brown girl's existence with truth, honesty and blatancy -- Shazia Mirza, comedian and writer Stunning . . . this is not just an insightful declaration of empowerment. The book is a toolkit designed to equip women with the confidence they need to navigate an intersectional identity. -- DESIblitz Jaspreet's writing provides vital access to a beautifully captured experience of growing up in a diverse Britain: this results in a beautifully informative, entertaining and affirming book. -- Preet Gill, MP A rousing manifesto, borne from Kaur's wide-ranging personal experiences and those of other strong brown women, for taking our identities and power back from society and fully owning our voices and places in the world. Beyond "essential reading", this book should be "canonical reading." -- Jenny Bhatt, author of the award-winning Each of Us Killers This is an authentic, bold and and inspiring read. It talks about some of the most crucial topics in society which I can strongly identify with. As an Indian woman who was brought up in Scotland, I felt her book amazingly reflected most of my own personal experiences at the same time... I believe all brown girls and beyond will find a piece of themselves between these pages. The book is informative and important. I would highly recommend it! -- Dr Pushpinder Chowdhry, MBE, founder and CEO of The UK Asian Film Festival and Tongues on Fire