My body is a large one. It’s made of big bones and long limbs. My flesh is a thick velvet dark cocoa-colored mass of skin that stretches and swivels with every step I take. It’s a physique that leaves no room for maybes. Someone was definitely just here, and it was me. When I get out of bed, the indents are deep, creased with almost two hundred pounds of woman, jaded insecurity, emboldened love and agonizing pain. It’s hard for me to cower on the sidelines. I’m a black woman who has an unapologetic presence. I’m seen even when I wish I could disappear into the earth. That can be a lot of extra heft to carry in this world. I know Aretha felt it, too. She taught me how to take up all the room I needed with opulent fervor, she made me feel at home in myself. "There was a time in our society when people believed that . . . when there’s an unplanned pregnancy, rather than that child be born out of wedlock, the best thing would be that they would be raised with the natural mother and father, and so marriages were encouraged. Obviously, 13 is the extreme, but that’s the principle behind it." But what exactly are the hard realities child marriage can create that these lawmakers who argue in support of it so often ignore? Tugba wears a Rachel Zoe dress, $2,995. angelasinrye.com. BaubleBar earrings, $32. baublebar.com.; Elit wears a J. Crew dress, $1,200. jcrew.com. Claire's stud, $13 for pack of 9 pairs. claires.com. Gabriela Atrigas & Company earrings, $350. gabrielaartigas.com.; Ilayda wears a Ji Oh sweater, $470. jiohny.com. Tuba wears a Vince cardigan, $395. vince.com. Tanya Taylor dress, $525. Saks Fifth Avenue. Sarah Chole necklace, $119. sarahchloe.com. Loeffler Randall sneakers, $375. loefflerrandall.com.Related:12 Things You Didn’t Know About Kaia Gerber