My Body
Ratings42
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings42
Average rating3.8
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "My Body offers a lucid examination of the mirrors in which its author has seen herself, and her indoctrination into the cult of beauty as defined by powerful men. In its more transcendent passages . . . the author steps beyond the reach of any 'Pygmalion' and becomes a more dangerous kind of beautiful. She becomes a kind of god in her own right: an artist." —Melissa Febos, The New York Times Book Review A "MOST ANTICIPATED" AND "BEST OF FALL 2021" BOOK FOR * VOGUE * TIME * ESQUIRE * PEOPLE * USA TODAY * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * LOS ANGELES TIMES * SHONDALAND * ALMA * THRILLEST * NYLON * FORTUNE A deeply honest investigation of what it means to be a woman and a commodity from Emily Ratajkowski, the archetypal, multi-hyphenate celebrity of our time Emily Ratajkowski is an acclaimed model and actress, an engaged political progressive, a formidable entrepreneur, a global social media phenomenon, and now, a writer. Rocketing to world fame at age twenty-one, Ratajkowski sparked both praise and furor with the provocative display of her body as an unapologetic statement of feminist empowerment. The subsequent evolution in her thinking about our culture’s commodification of women is the subject of this book. My Body is a profoundly personal exploration of feminism, sexuality, and power, of men's treatment of women and women's rationalizations for accepting that treatment. These essays chronicle moments from Ratajkowski’s life while investigating the culture’s fetishization of girls and female beauty, its obsession with and contempt for women’s sexuality, the perverse dynamics of the fashion and film industries, and the gray area between consent and abuse. Nuanced, fierce, and incisive, My Body marks the debut of a writer brimming with courage and intelligence.
Reviews with the most likes.
3.75/5 stars
This book was beautifully written with compelling perspectives on societal standards of women and the pressures there are to use ourselves and our bodies to gain respect that already should be given. Emily's insights were fascinating and heartbreaking at times, and honestly I'd recommend everyone to read this.
However, I struggle to rate this book any higher than what I've given it due to the fact that in the rare moment when these topics weren't discussed, there was a palpable disconnect between reader and author.
i want to rate this higher, i really do but...
Firstly, let me commend Ratajkowski on her writing. There is no doubt that she is an intellect and a brilliant writer. She is able to beautifully convey her own complex nature; it is raw and candid. She knows how to tell a story.
The problem lies in the marketing of the book as a feminist work. It is not.
Ratajkowski seems to be so out of touch with reality and completely unaware of her own privilege. I don't mean to minimise her struggles at all but she never addresses her privilege as a conventionally attractive, skinny, relatively wealthy, cis white woman. She doesn't take into account the struggles of any other marginalised groups of women, which would've been totally acceptable if only she didn't dub this is a “feminist” book. Non-intersectional “feminist” books are essentially just self serving and relatable to few. Books addressing body image and body positivity are good but feminism should never stop there.
Ratajkowski doesn't write much in terms of critiquing the current harmful capitalist systems, she simply talks about how she found success within these capitalist structures. The book doesn't condemn the modelling industry as a whole but rather her own mistreatment within the industry.
Her lack of awareness surrounding her own privilege is especially evident in the way she talks about money, complaining about buying back a picture of herself for $80k, which she can't afford because she's only 23 so she had to split it with her boyfriend. What 23 year old has $40k lying around to buy their own photo that's already out on the internet. I understand that it was her way of reclaiming her body and more power to you but to not even regard the privileged position she's in, felt extremely insensitive.
She also often universalizes her own experiences, not realizing that most people -women- lead lives that are diametrically different.
All that being said, her personal experiences of objectification, sexual assault, exploitation are all still very real and traumatic, and so as a memoir, this is a powerful and well written book. It's just not a feminist book.
Emily, please keep writing.
I felt weird rating this one but upon reading some other reviews i agree most strongly with those who rated this 4 stars so i am going with that. I would've preferred a little more positive life lessons learnt from the awful circumstances and acknowledgement of the position/privilege Emily has. This doesn't need to take away from what she has gone through but even the acknowledgement that her career is the reason she has the ability to write this book that people will read would've been nice to see.
It was an easy read with some moments of beautiful prose. Some of the essays felt buoyed solely by the inherent intrigue of the subject matter (i.e. exposés on other celebs/industry folk)
I wish she had a stronger point of view. A lot of this book felt like a play-by-play retelling of things that happened or thoughts/questions she had - but with little resolution or attempt at such.
The last few essays were the strongest, in my opinion, because she communicates from a place of anger and justice that brings clarity to her writing. Earlier essays tend to meander.
