Chaos

Chaos - or: It's a system! Hate and love, disappointment and joy, shame and trust. We seem to prefer to hide everything chaotic. We live in a society that despises chaos, in a system that promotes discipline and order. But: Where does this actually come from? Why is chaos so distant from us, even though it is simultaneously so close? How do we navigate a world that negatively evaluates difference, binds us with its attributions, and pushes us in a direction we would not choose for ourselves?

About the control of emotions and the emancipation of our feelings. The less one fits into societal norms, the greater it becomes: the external and internal chaos. As the child of a Tunisian father and a German mother, Yassamin-Sophia Boussaoud is born in Priem at Lake Chiemsee and feels the impact of both cultures early on. Boussaoud is treated differently because of her appearance, confronted with expectations and conventions that are hard to meet. What follows: teenage parenthood, a body image marked by rejection, the suppression of one’s own feelings. This book reveals the power structures underlying our system - and that the control of emotions is part of it. But what happens when we reclaim these emotions?

For radical gentleness towards ourselves. Yassamin-Sophia Boussaoud takes us on a journey through various feelings, presents research and facts, discusses current political events, and poses questions that concern us all: Where do feelings come from at all? How does shame arise and how is shaming used socially? Why is longing so important? Who is allowed to openly express anger, and who is denied that right? What significance does love have in different cultures? How closely is it related to body images and beauty ideals?.