Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Pageboy by Elliot Page

107 reviews

lindsaymck's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

It feels odd to give a rating to a memoir, especially one that handles such sensitive experiences. I appreciated the insights EP was willing to share about coming of age in the movie industry and how he constantly navigated his gender inside their rigid expectations. His writing style is sometimes concise and simple, staying towards the surface level of reflection, and other times he includes some poetic prose and dives deep, truly changing my perceptions. 

The non-linear structure took a minute to adjust to, but I tried to see that through the lens of natural storytelling as memories and details and revelations came to him. I wonder if a chronological storytelling could’ve helped me understand him better, but think it being non-linear lends itself to the chaos of his hard-fought journey towards his true self. 

I am very glad I listened to the book rather than read it myself. Hearing him share his story increases my connection to it. That being said, there is still so much I feel like I don’t know about him, things that could’ve absolutely been explored. The book did take a very personal approach to all of the complex issues he has faced - identity, gender, sexuality, eating disorders, and mental health, among others - but I still felt like I didn’t know him at the end. That thought, though, made me check my own entitlement - I am not entitled to know anything about his experiences other than what he chooses to share - and I do appreciate what he does share for what it reveals about him and all that he has gone through to become who he is. 

It seems to me that he did not want his book to be a voice for all transgender people or a source of education for those wishing to learn more about transgenderism. He could have just wanted it to be a cathartic collection of his own experiences, the act of putting them into words adding to the catharsis and giving him the freedom he deserves to feel. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Transphobia, Outing, and Self harm

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

mcnoble's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Elliot Page’s memoir captivates a multitude of emotions during his journey to sharing his self with the world. Through reflections into his childhood, he shares his years filled with pain, body dysmorphia, and the confusion of not being able to be who he really is. His writing is detailed, poignant, and beautiful. I think everybody could learn from reading his memoir; learning about trans experiences and also, learning about themselves alongside another person’s reflections. He is humble about his writings but this was perhaps my favorite memoir that I have ever read. Thank you, Elliot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Outing, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

phouka's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Child death, Homophobia, Stalking, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Drug use, Medical content, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, and Rape

Minor: Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cancer, Self harm, Sexism, Mental illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

natashaball's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Bullying and Body shaming

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Deadnaming, Drug use, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Vomit, Body shaming, Self harm, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia

stevia333k's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

4.25

The last 3rd was good, and i say this because the first 2 thirds were violent as hell. I had to learn that he was in a lot of action movies basically in order to handle it & i also could only listen 10 minutes at a time at triple speed. 

Anyways, after a while certain parts about being trans were like oh good my transfemme self isn't alone. 

The relationships though & the shadow work kinda went over my head because I'm aromantic but the workplace accident (because of how wreckless the directors were to black & queer lives) helped connect me to the kind of stuff he meant, so I am thankful he included workplace incidents like that.

Also the memoir isn't told as chronologically, so basically if you're taking notes then I recommend trying to make a character list sort of glossary since the time dimension doesn't sort them, but some segments are like public letters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, War, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Confinement, Death, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Blood, Hate crime, Sexual content, Transphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Self harm

subbasileia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Cursing, and Transphobia

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

marmaladereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

This book is... ooof.

I love Elliott Page's work and I love him no less for having read this book, but I probably would not recommend this to other queer readers. This is an incredibly difficult, depressing, and mostly tragic story of mental illness struggle, how cruel society is towards queer and trans people, and a first hand account of why trans people have such a high rate of mental illness and suicide. 

There is an incredible amount of explicit, graphic on page homophobia, transphobia, and abuse in this book.

It's highly relatable, well written, and feels incredibly true, but also made me feel sad and scared about the state of the world, and I have quite enough of that in my life already, tyvm.

Do check the content warnings before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Transphobia, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Sexual content, Hate crime, and Body shaming

moliviabow's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

A heartwarming and personal journey! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, and Stalking

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, and Outing

dani_reis's review against another edition

informative

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Excrement, Alcohol, Body horror, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Vomit