Beyond Our Bodies

Quashani, Kensington, Australia, 2018 'Im a solo artist named Quashani Bahd, I was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. I came to Melbourne 17 years ago with a suitcase pack full of hope, dreams and inspirations and three pairs of shoes. My life is music, art, and fashion. Being a black woman just means that I need to work harder because I’m a woman but then I need to work twice as hard because I’m a black woman. Femininity for me means being hard and also soft. It would be like brick and laces. Growing up the perception of being a woman is that women are sensitive and therefore it makes them weak. But you can be sensitive and still be pretty tough. Often I get told ‘you’re so tough, you’re so strong’ and I didn’t realize what people meant is this endurance, this resilience. And only a woman would know what that is like, because men take it for granted. Don't get me started on male privilege or we'll need a whole volume!!!' Photo by Su Cassiano/Middle East Images/ABACAPRESS.COM