Bad Fat Black Girl Lib/E: Notes from a Trap Feminist

From funny and fearless entertainment journalist Sesali Bowen, Bad Fat Black Girl combines rule-breaking feminist theory, witty and insightful personal memoir, and cutting cultural analysis for an unforgettable, genre-defining debut.

Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Sesali Bowen learned early on how to hustle, stay on her toes, and champion other Black women and femmes as she navigated Blackness, queerness, fatness, friendship, poverty, sex work, and self-love.

Her love of trap music led her to the top of hip-hop journalism, profiling game-changing artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, and Janelle Monae. But despite all the beauty, complexity, and general badassery she saw, Bowen found none of that nuance represented in mainstream feminism. Thus, she coined Trap Feminism, a contemporary framework that interrogates where feminism meets today's hip-hop.

Bad Fat Black Girl offers a new, inclusive feminism for the modern world. Weaving together searing personal essay and cultural commentary, Bowen interrogates sexism, fatphobia, and capitalism all within the context of race and hip-hop. In the process, she continues a Black feminist legacy of unmatched sheer determination and creative resilience.

Bad bitches: this one's for you.

Born and raised in Chicago, Sesali Bowen learned early on how to hustle, stay on her toes, and always bet on Black women. These sensibilities have driven her work in political organizing, sex education, and women's media as a writer, journalist, host, fat influencer, and content creator. Sesali is the former Senior Entertainment Editor at Nylon magazine and senior entertainment writer at Refinery29. Focusing on Black pop culture, she helped launch Unbothered, R29's sub brand for Black women. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and Feministing. She now curates events, writes for film and television, and creates elevated pop culture correspondence. She's an alumna of the Gender Studies programs at DePaul University (BA) and Georgia State University (MA). Bowen lives in Brooklyn, New York.