Lessons From A Strip Club & More: My Review Of Strong Like Butterfly

My friend Pauline Campos sent a copy of her recently published anthology, Strong Like Butterfly, to review. Well, life got in the way. I knew that this was a piece of work I wanted to sit down and savor like that piece of Godiva you found wedged in between the racks in your pantry while in the midst of a chocolate withdrawal fit. I was finally able to sit down last week and read it, and I was not disappointed.

Here’s a little summary:
Strong Like Butterfly
brings the best of the popular website Girl Body Pride to the pages of
your e-reader in a collection of strong and inspiring essays from women
celebrating the You that You Are Right Now. While the word “Body” might
be interpreted only as that which never seems to be the right size,
shape, or weight, it is so much more than the visual.

Pauline, you see, is an amazing woman. She kicks some ass in the literal world by inspiring girls of all ages to love their bodies, just the way they are. Have I been able to love my body, just the way it is? Eh…not so much. I still look at my pre-baby body photos and yearn for the abs and ass of yesterday, but after reading this anthology I am a step closer to embracing all that my body has done for me (and no, I am not talking about that time I mock-pole danced on top of the piano at Sluggers for B’s 30th birthday…I was thinking more along the lines of having a child).

The women in this anthology inspire me to be a more honest person. Pauline shares her hilarious anecdotes from life experiences- from strip clubs to the Catholic-with-an-asterisk form of religion, her bold truth has you nodding along while snorting coffee out your nose from laughter.

Lissa Rankin, another contributor, hits the nail on the head with her story entitled Affirmations of Beauty. She describes the way 99.9% of us feel while trying to lose the baby weight, minus the Heidi Klums of the world (who I firmly believe is a robot sent from another planet, made to make the rest of us feel like crap).

These women talk about the emotions of a break-up, the loss of a child, trying to figure out exactly who you are in a sea of uncertainty. These are the topics that no one talks about, but we all experience. This anthology is where the bullsh*t buck stops.

Thank you Pauline for putting this together. I applaud you, and the rest of the contributors for creating an honest, refreshing and inspiring work of literature that gives women a gentle but firm nudge in the right direction.

You can purchase it on Smashwords and download it to your e-reader…no need to leave the couch 🙂

Pauline Campos, Girl Body Pride
founder, worked for The Detroit News and freelanced for the
Metro-Detroit based Metro Parent Magazine before taking an after baby
break. Now, she blogs for Funny Not Slutty, Owning Pink, and is a
regular contributor at 30 Second Mom while maintaining her own blog,
Aspiring Mama. Girl Body Pride is her answer to every woman’s lifetime
of self-doubt and body image issues.