Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski

30 reviews

nicolecier's review

emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Fatphobia, and Sexism

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

nosophiesallowed's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

ouch.
this was hard to read but brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Alcohol, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

gteng's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

3.25

Overall, a book that makes you reflect upon the way our society treats women in entertainment industries like modelling and acting. I think where the book fell a little flat for me is that at times Emily doesn't seem to recognize or reflect on the privilege that she has. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment

nessakate's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

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

amelianotthepilot's review

emotional medium-paced

4.0

autobiography of a famous female model. She discusses her relationship to her body and how society and modeling have shaped it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual violence

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

I've been living under a rock for years and did not know who Emily Ratajkowski was before I started seeing this book pop up in the TBRs and wrap ups of booktubers I watch. I went into this hearing her be described as the "Blurred Lines" girl and walked out of the book knowing she is so much more. Ratajkowski writes so vulnerably about her experiences working in the modeling industry, how her body has been bought and sold - most of the time without her consent, how she marvels at the wonderful things her body can do to her (i.e. the birth of her son), and how it can make people think they know all about who she is based on what she looks like. 

I think this memoir does a beautiful job of stomping on the narrative that no matter what a woman looks like, it doesn't give them more power. Ratajkowski cites a quote by Halle Berry: "My looks have spared me no hardship." She's RIGHT. Your looks do not protect you from abuse at the hands of men and patriarchal norms in society. It's so insidious to go around believing that beautiful women don't have problems simply because they are beautiful. 

Anyway - that was a tangent, back to what I thought...

There were sections listening to this audiobook where I flat out cried, especially when at times, Ratajkowski herself, narrating the book, would get choked up herself. I wanted to hug this woman every time that happened. It felt extremely intimate to listen to her read her own words.

Additionally, Emily Ratajkowski's writing is beautiful. The pictures she paints with her words are both lovely and grotesque, they can be joyful or heartbreaking, but they are consistently vivid. I will definitely be adding anything else she writes to my TBR. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death and Eating disorder

citrinuke's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Chronic illness, and Toxic relationship