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booksbeetsboom 's review for:
Toxic: Women, Fame, and the Tabloid 2000s
by Sarah Ditum
dark
informative
medium-paced
Excellent if slightly irksome read. Irksome if you're in your 30s or older, because the way we viewed women and especially celebrity women was appalling...and we are all guilty of some part of that cultural deficiency in some way. Each chapter focuses on a different person, with the most notable subjects probably Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, and Paris Hilton. Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith aren't chapter subjects, but they add clarity and poignancy to the narrative, while lesser known chapter subjects such as Aaliyah and China add facets perhaps not thought of by some audiences. Pick up and put down at leisure; I enjoyed reading a chapter and then sitting with it for a bit. Ultimately hopeful for more compassion towards celebrities and women, but also focusing on the fact that the 24 hour Internet machine of super connectivity is basically destructive and unhealthy for all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment