Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski

23 reviews

pun1sher's review

3.0

I think that my body's biggest issue is that it's inconsistent. The woozies, beauty lessons, buying myself back and men like you are good, even very good. But many of the essays seem to chew on through the exact same ideas again and again. Pamela, toxic, and K-spa are unremarkable and confusing. Bc hello Halle berry is probably the worst essay in the entire book, a childish and naive take on capitalism. I enjoyed Emily's essays. I enjoyed being able to look into her mind, both as a person and as a model.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Medical content, Rape, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer

hngisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Body shaming

Moderate: Alcohol and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Addiction, and Drug abuse

christinereichard's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

It’s obviously not relatable for the average woman, so don't expect it to be. However, her celebrity/model status does not eliminate the complex relationship women have with their bodies. My Body is a nice perspective on modern feminism’s obsession with “empowerment.” My main takeaway: What is empowerment — Feeling sexy & wanted, or actually being put in a position of power? We often confuse it for the former.

 

It’s clear that the people who DNFed this book...well, DNFed it. I see many people saying that her stories are silly because she actively chooses to model and profit off of her body. I'd argue that though the stories follow her own life experiences, the discussion topics are bigger than her as an individual. Even if she chose not to model, these thinking points are still applicable to the modeling industry that ultimately trickles down to our daily media consumption. 

 

The best essay by far was "Buying Back My Body." The others were interesting, but didn't wow me the same. The first two or three essays can put you off the book because she does talk about her youth as a naturally beautiful girl -- Kinda annoying, but like I said above, you have to go in with the expectation of her being unrelatable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Body shaming, and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Drug use

sammantha's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug use, Mental illness, Death, Animal death, Stalking, Eating disorder, Cancer, Medical content, Body shaming, and Blood

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

Speechless. I’ll let the quotes speak for themselves….

“I want to calculate my beauty to protect myself, to understand exactly how much power and lovability I have.”

“I liked to tell friends that the French word for model is mannequin. “So,” I’d say, shrugging, “I’m a mannequin for a living.”

“As the number on my scale went down, the number on my checks had been going up. The agency had taken notice.”

“In my early twenties, it had never occurred to me that the women who gained their power from beauty were indebted to the men whose desire granted them that power in the first place. Those men were the ones in control, not the women the world fawned over. Facing the reality of dynamics at play would have meant admitting how limited my power really was—how limited any woman’s power is when she survives and even succeeds in the world as a thing to be looked at.”

“The stylist, their assistant, the client or the editor, the other models, and sometimes the photographer will stand right in front of you and wait as you strip. You understand that your body is a means for them to accomplish what they’re here to accomplish: to make an image to sell whatever it is they’re selling. They’re in charge of it now, not you. Now hand it over, they seem to say. Your body is why you’re here and we need it. Now.”

“I look down at my body and it doesn’t  feel like my own. It feels like something, but not me. They can look at me all they want, because they’re right; my body is just a tool.” 

“The world celebrates and rewards women who are chosen by powerful men.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship

meredith_williams_'s review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Rape, Misogyny, Drug use, and Cancer

ntvenessa's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

2.5

Fascinating and incisive, but doesn't push quite far enough. Ratajkowski distills so well what it means to capitalise off your image by leveraging the male gaze. There are power dynamics and tension underlying her relationship with her own body as a result of selling her image in a landscape where beauty is defined by a white, cis-hetero patriarchy. This collection of essays is deeply personal and generous, although the temporal context is sometimes confusing to follow. There does some to be a deliberate shying away from what her work means to other women, especially young girls, who are subject to the beauty standards she reinforces. This shortsightedness is laid in stark contrast with the tenacity and heart found unmistakably in the rest of her essays, particularly in her evolving relationship with her body in the context of feminism and empowerment. I really enjoyed the tender and wise reflections on her youth and how mixed messaging around her body impacted how she saw herself. However, it seems a shame not to explore further how she herself is complicit in upholding the beauty standards that have both trapped her and lent her power (although as she writes, it is only power as bestowed on her by men and not true empowerment). I suppose when you are still capitalising off the very same system, it pays to flirt around these broader notions and keep the narrative tightly focused on the matter at hand -- and she does it well. I'd be keen to see a memoir after she leaves the industry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Body shaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Colonisation, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Fatphobia

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Addiction, and Suicide attempt

samarakroeger's review

reflective medium-paced

4.0

I felt seen in several ways by this book despite our lives being pretty different.  the guilt and shame ... very relatable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Misogyny, Addiction, Cancer, and Medical trauma

epellicci's review

informative reflective fast-paced

3.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. Ratajkowski's writing is definitely full of confident belief in itself, and I found the way she approached each chapter (or essay) in a different style engaging and creative. However as a reader, I found the tone of the book was defensive and somewhat lonely. I felt the premise of My Body - taking back ownership of herself and exploring the gender and power politics that have shaped her life - was struggling behind a need for the author to prove herself still. 
I really hope that writing My Body was healing and restorative for Ratajkowski. The trauma and struggle to identify her place in her world were written with astounding honesty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape and Mental illness

Minor: Cancer

sderrig's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Medical content, and Body shaming