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Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'
I Feel Bad About My Neck: and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
7 reviews
kellyofcali's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
Unfortunately, while Ephron is a good writer, I was disappointed in the content - it feels REALLY dated, with a lot about how aging is terrible and being a woman mean being thin, etc. I'm sure it made sense for her, but isn't really what I want to be reading as a modern woman.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
ramreadsagain's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.0
CW: Racism, Classism in quotes from the book:
"I am never going back to Africa; the last time I was there, in 1972, there were no hairdressers out in the bush, and as far as I was concerned that was the end of that place."
"I envy all Asian women - I mean, have you ever seen an Asian woman whose hair looks bad? (No, you haven’t, why is this?)"
"The other day I passed a homeless woman on the street. […] I am only about eight hours a week away from becoming like that woman - with frizzled flyaway gray hair […], with a potbelly, […] with the dirty nails and chapped lips and moustache”. (Context: she now understands why some women are 'terrified of becoming a bag lady'"
Peak rich white feminism. Redeemed to a two star because the last couple of chapters in particular felt very touching, as well as there being a decent amount of humour throughout the book.
A lot of this however boils down to whining over her money and privilege. She constantly whines about the amount she has to spend on maintaining her appearance into her old age. She whines that she eventually had to move out of her New York 8 bedroom apartment because rent was hitting $10.000 a month (in the NINETIES - that would be about double today). She whines that you're no longer allowed to pass your trauma onto your kids. There was a bizarre chapter about her obsession with Bill Clinton (war criminal).
Honestly even the introduction by Dolly Alderton was as pointless as a chocolate teapot. The majority of it is just quotes from the book that you'll be reading again in 20 minutes because they're in the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
hubes's review against another edition
fast-paced
2.0
There are like 3 really fantastic essays and the rest are uh mediocre at their best and detached and offensive at their worst. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I don't really relate to much of her experiences since I absolutely can not afford a 3k starting rent while she is able to let it ride out to 12k before she has to tap out
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Moderate: Death
sammies_shelf's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Rape
chandle5's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Death
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
Not for every woman, shows a level of rich, white privilege but it is memoirish so it’s about her own problems but not always relatable. Not the type of feminist centered writing I expected but instead looked at the more mundane “issues” Ephron reflected on like how she “had to get her hair and nails done twice a week to feel good.”
Despite the above, it was nice to have a lighter, funny approach to the ideas of womanhood compared to the serious often dark tragedies that comes with being a woman.
Short quick read and quite enjoyable despite some moments of privilege and fatphobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Rape
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