Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - My Body

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.

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paigicus's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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adriiscarolina's review against another edition

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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.

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ferdie's review against another edition

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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.

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denijaaa_s's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

2.5

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rendireads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

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