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mari1532's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I love a good memoir and Ratajkowski delivered in this book. I checked out the audiobook from my local library so I was able to hear her tell her story. The vulnerability that Ratajkowski has while detailing her life and her career as a model is deeply moving and beautifully written. She was also one of the first people to really detail for me what it feels like to be an only child within the context of your parent's marriage. Her discussion of how she navigated familial dynamics while pursuing her own life was something that I really admired.
I also really appreciate the reflections that she had about her career and I think this work really highlights something that we as a culture are now coming to grips with. How women were treated in the press in the early 2000s and how that time set particularly harsh health and beauty standards for women. Obviously, there are still a great many problems in this area, but Ratajkowski's open discussion of the modelling industry and how she struggles with reclaiming her own image when it has been used in hundreds of campaign ads is really inspiring.
I also really appreciate the reflections that she had about her career and I think this work really highlights something that we as a culture are now coming to grips with. How women were treated in the press in the early 2000s and how that time set particularly harsh health and beauty standards for women. Obviously, there are still a great many problems in this area, but Ratajkowski's open discussion of the modelling industry and how she struggles with reclaiming her own image when it has been used in hundreds of campaign ads is really inspiring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexism, Body shaming, and Misogyny
paigicus's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Body shaming
adriiscarolina's review
4.0
I went into the book with low expectations and it pretty much confronted me with my own prejudice. Emily uses this book as a means of self exploration, not necessarily to reach a conclusion but to see her life story in a more nuanced way. She presents her own upbringing, and her mother’s notions of beauty as the backbone of her decisions. How she has had to grapple with the assumptions that people make of her for being a model, including the dumb girl narrative (which even I fell for).
Instead, I finished this book with a much more nuanced way of seeing the modeling industry and how it dehumanizes women as they strive to pursue their dreams. Emily does an amazing job at exploring her own relationship with her body, the very thing that sustains her livelihood as a model, yet also the thing that men lust for and profit off of, at times without her consent. It’s a tough read, but a needed one.
Instead, I finished this book with a much more nuanced way of seeing the modeling industry and how it dehumanizes women as they strive to pursue their dreams. Emily does an amazing job at exploring her own relationship with her body, the very thing that sustains her livelihood as a model, yet also the thing that men lust for and profit off of, at times without her consent. It’s a tough read, but a needed one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault
Moderate: Body shaming
ferdie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
My body explores feminine bodies and how women are dis/connected to them. Emily Ratajkowski writes beautifully and I cannot recommend the audio book enough. Her voice gave an emotional tone that could be missed or weakened in a read through, especially for a subject that is often scholar-ized.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Body shaming
denijaaa_s's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Body shaming and Sexism
rendireads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Sexual assault
Minor: Drug use
writingcaia's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I truly loved Emily’s writing and the way she analyzed the role her body and beauty had and has on her life and financial independence, but also how the empowerment of showing it as she sees fit is a double-edged sword, being both freedom and prison. Freedom of choice and imprisonment to this world ruled by the male gaze and wants, and by their control of how much freedom a woman is allowed to have. In her case, she fought for that freedom using her shell and keen mind, but not without the repercussions of playing into the hands of men. Suffering abuse both physical and psychological, that she was at times unaware of - albeit not without the trauma and depression that came with it - she clawed her way up to become the woman, model, celebrity, and entrepreneur she is now.
There is also the role her family played in how she learned to see herself, always in comparison to others, always valuing her physical appearance above all, to the detriment of her psychological and physical health.
I identified in many ways with Emily, since I learned as a teen when sprouting into my woman’s body, the effect it and beauty could have on people, but also (and this before Instagram and social media) how the reverse was true. I wanted to be a model but was too short. I compared myself to the girls in Elite Model Look contest, in Ragazza’s magazine, in cinema, etc, and agonized. I am thankful not to have been born into the social media boom, although I still had and have to tackle it, and thus stress over its pressure.
I ended up being granted what I wanted as a teen, in a way, as in my mid-twenties, in a time when I did not know which direction my life should follow I, a bit accidentally, became a nude and fine-art model, then an alt-model (@suicidegirl), especially as my skin became a canvas for my self-expression. It was then, I truly saw the effects and power of my body, but like Emily, only later did I realize how I was playing into the men’s world, their rules, their gaze, to be then slandered by both men and women by what I chose and choose to be and do with my body. But without it I would not have found my bff, sister from another mister, and other close friends, I would not have met so many girls around the whole world, been in two videoclips, several TV and magazine appearances - had my so-called “15 minutes of fame”.
Thus, comparing myself with @Emrata is impossible, I am a street cat and she’s a jungle panther. Still, a lot of it resonated with me. But, I am older, older than her, and have tried, since realizing how I played into the patriarchal system one way or the other, to distance myself from an image fuelled presence, to be more discreet so to speak, and more into my inner self than outer. It was why when I started my bookstagram I aimed not to use my image on my posts, as I already had the notoriety and personal validation (and scorn), and the money I could with it. Although, I wonder if I am being silly about not using it more - posts with me in it tend to do better - and I still love to dress up, to feel sexy, to use revealing outfits, but never for others, always for myself. Unfortunately, I am judged for better or worse when I do so.
Thoughts constantly assail me about how to be who I am now without mixing with who I was before, but I am one and the same, and I can’t run from my past (nor do I want to, although I fear how it will affect my dream of becoming a published author) so I might as well learn from it. Use what serves me and trash what doesn’t.
My image can sell and it can doom me, and I will have to walk that thin ledge careful not to hurt myself.
This turned out into a very personal post but alas that’s how the book touched me.
People, especially women, no matter their image, or their beauty, are bound to this horribly patriarchal world where our bodies, our skin, and our image will be judged and controlled no matter what we do, so we might as well do and be what we want, but always aiming to be less judgmental of what others choose to do, no matter how different from our choices, as long as it doesn’t affect our fought little freedoms.
There is also the role her family played in how she learned to see herself, always in comparison to others, always valuing her physical appearance above all, to the detriment of her psychological and physical health.
I identified in many ways with Emily, since I learned as a teen when sprouting into my woman’s body, the effect it and beauty could have on people, but also (and this before Instagram and social media) how the reverse was true. I wanted to be a model but was too short. I compared myself to the girls in Elite Model Look contest, in Ragazza’s magazine, in cinema, etc, and agonized. I am thankful not to have been born into the social media boom, although I still had and have to tackle it, and thus stress over its pressure.
I ended up being granted what I wanted as a teen, in a way, as in my mid-twenties, in a time when I did not know which direction my life should follow I, a bit accidentally, became a nude and fine-art model, then an alt-model (@suicidegirl), especially as my skin became a canvas for my self-expression. It was then, I truly saw the effects and power of my body, but like Emily, only later did I realize how I was playing into the men’s world, their rules, their gaze, to be then slandered by both men and women by what I chose and choose to be and do with my body. But without it I would not have found my bff, sister from another mister, and other close friends, I would not have met so many girls around the whole world, been in two videoclips, several TV and magazine appearances - had my so-called “15 minutes of fame”.
Thus, comparing myself with @Emrata is impossible, I am a street cat and she’s a jungle panther. Still, a lot of it resonated with me. But, I am older, older than her, and have tried, since realizing how I played into the patriarchal system one way or the other, to distance myself from an image fuelled presence, to be more discreet so to speak, and more into my inner self than outer. It was why when I started my bookstagram I aimed not to use my image on my posts, as I already had the notoriety and personal validation (and scorn), and the money I could with it. Although, I wonder if I am being silly about not using it more - posts with me in it tend to do better - and I still love to dress up, to feel sexy, to use revealing outfits, but never for others, always for myself. Unfortunately, I am judged for better or worse when I do so.
Thoughts constantly assail me about how to be who I am now without mixing with who I was before, but I am one and the same, and I can’t run from my past (nor do I want to, although I fear how it will affect my dream of becoming a published author) so I might as well learn from it. Use what serves me and trash what doesn’t.
My image can sell and it can doom me, and I will have to walk that thin ledge careful not to hurt myself.
This turned out into a very personal post but alas that’s how the book touched me.
People, especially women, no matter their image, or their beauty, are bound to this horribly patriarchal world where our bodies, our skin, and our image will be judged and controlled no matter what we do, so we might as well do and be what we want, but always aiming to be less judgmental of what others choose to do, no matter how different from our choices, as long as it doesn’t affect our fought little freedoms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Rape
Moderate: Sexism, Body shaming, and Mental illness
sakisreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This one is hard to read, only because it hits where it hurts. Emily Ratajkowski (who I wasn’t even aware of in the midst of the Blurred Lines video) is a woman I’ve never really thought to engage with. I’m not the conventionally pretty person she has in her followings. However, after this book I thought I should definitely delve more into her and her art! 😳
The tie in between womanhood and capitalism gripped me. The way Ratajkowski talks through her experiences, always being pretty with big boobs and starting modelling early, was interesting but unpretentious. Although I could not relate, I could only feel sympathy 🥲
There were many moments where I wanted to write down bits as quotes to look back on, but here are the 2 that sat with me most:
‘I was a young woman who placed her self-worth in the hands of men like you.’
‘No one likes an angry woman. She is the worst kind of villain: a witch, obnoxious and ugly and full of spite and bitterness. Shrill. I do anything to avoid that feeling, anything to stop myself from being that woman. I try to make anything resembling anger seem spunky and charming and sexy.’
The one about angry women made me GASP.
We suffer so, so much as women 🥺
This one gets a 4.5 out of 5 star rating from me. Thank you ❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Rape
trishalah_'s review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexism and Body shaming