Yumna Al-Arashi Instagram – Reposting, censorsed
my body is political. it is the most political thing i have because it is the only thing i have. my body is an object of control, policed by those whose own bodies are marked with the power of life yet see mine as a site to control. my body is too sexy, too ugly, too beautiful, too skinny, too fat, too weak, too strong. this platform rewards me when i share my sexualised body but punishes me if i show too much. my body has held trauma, the weight of others, language that scarred me so deeply it left echoes i’ll carry until death. the scars were once a weight of shame, now they are a reminder of why my body must stand in defiance. since childhood, my body has been trained to watch images of bodies like mine being murdered, attacked, controlled. to survive and to thrive is an act of resistance. i’ve inherited the trauma of the body i was birthed from. my work with my body brings discomfort and cruelty, praise and rejection. it attracts attention, wanted and unwanted. it is too brown, too hairy, too loud, too old, too naked, too clothed. i abuse my body to remove myself from it. and yet, my body is my connection to this planet, these lands, the manifestation of my aliveness. i dress my body and express with my body, it is my medium every second that my heart beats. it breeds love and joy and care and comfort. but the most pure root of my love can’t be shared, because my humanity is too shameful to be real. my body receives the opinions, the stares, the bullshit of others. envy, rage, questions of what is real and what is fake, opinions on what to fix or remove. it is told how to move, how loud or quiet it must be. my body is raped, objectified, hurt and damaged by the repetitions of non-consent, a gaze and abuse belonging to masses of violence. my body absorbs or deflects cruelty with every comment, every projection. and still, here it is: alive, strong, vulnerable. to choose becomes my greatest rebellion. to push myself again and again through the motions of shame — a sport i have mastered – this is my greatest political act. | Posted on 05/Nov/2025 20:01:09
