My Body
Ratings56
Average rating3.8
I felt weird rating this one but upon reading some other reviews i agree most strongly with those who rated this 4 stars so i am going with that. I would've preferred a little more positive life lessons learnt from the awful circumstances and acknowledgement of the position/privilege Emily has. This doesn't need to take away from what she has gone through but even the acknowledgement that her career is the reason she has the ability to write this book that people will read would've been nice to see.
It was an easy read with some moments of beautiful prose. Some of the essays felt buoyed solely by the inherent intrigue of the subject matter (i.e. exposés on other celebs/industry folk)
I wish she had a stronger point of view. A lot of this book felt like a play-by-play retelling of things that happened or thoughts/questions she had - but with little resolution or attempt at such.
The last few essays were the strongest, in my opinion, because she communicates from a place of anger and justice that brings clarity to her writing. Earlier essays tend to meander.
sometimes you have an opinion on someone, you think it's your own original thought. but dig a little, and you can see your internal misogyny rearing that nasty head. I think that was me with Em Rata.
I liked her essay on “Buying Myself Back” but still penned it as a “one-time thing” that worked because of how personal and vulnerable her voice felt.
My fear about going into My Body was that it would feel semi “woe is me”, and the rest would be unrelatable problems of womanhood.
Emily's essays ARE personal, and the nuance she brings to the topics of body, sexuality, capitalism, patriarchy, and self-hate feel universal. I was reading this book while also listening to the audiobook and I could feel her words processing the world around her and inside of her. It wasn't a stream of conscious “I had a mildly interesting life” narrative.
I enjoyed some essays more than others but overall, this book is very much worth the hype.
I appreciate the perspective Ratajkowski offers on her life. I loved her conversational, honest, vulnerable, and witty tone. She hit the nail on the head on how to talk about such difficult topics, and it added so much to her narratives on modeling culture, social media, what it means to be conventionally attractive, the dynamics that creates with powerful men, as well as her thoughtful descriptions of her relationships with other women. Her pieces on the art that's been created of her image were especially powerful, and rightfully upsetting. I wouldn't call this an easy read, but being a woman in the patriarchy isn't easy either.
i want to rate this higher, i really do but...
Firstly, let me commend Ratajkowski on her writing. There is no doubt that she is an intellect and a brilliant writer. She is able to beautifully convey her own complex nature; it is raw and candid. She knows how to tell a story.
The problem lies in the marketing of the book as a feminist work. It is not.
Ratajkowski seems to be so out of touch with reality and completely unaware of her own privilege. I don't mean to minimise her struggles at all but she never addresses her privilege as a conventionally attractive, skinny, relatively wealthy, cis white woman. She doesn't take into account the struggles of any other marginalised groups of women, which would've been totally acceptable if only she didn't dub this is a “feminist” book. Non-intersectional “feminist” books are essentially just self serving and relatable to few. Books addressing body image and body positivity are good but feminism should never stop there.
Ratajkowski doesn't write much in terms of critiquing the current harmful capitalist systems, she simply talks about how she found success within these capitalist structures. The book doesn't condemn the modelling industry as a whole but rather her own mistreatment within the industry.
Her lack of awareness surrounding her own privilege is especially evident in the way she talks about money, complaining about buying back a picture of herself for $80k, which she can't afford because she's only 23 so she had to split it with her boyfriend. What 23 year old has $40k lying around to buy their own photo that's already out on the internet. I understand that it was her way of reclaiming her body and more power to you but to not even regard the privileged position she's in, felt extremely insensitive.
She also often universalizes her own experiences, not realizing that most people -women- lead lives that are diametrically different.
All that being said, her personal experiences of objectification, sexual assault, exploitation are all still very real and traumatic, and so as a memoir, this is a powerful and well written book. It's just not a feminist book.
Emily, please keep writing.
There are not words. More books like this please, about learning to love our bodies.
Basically my intro to Ratajkowski
I'd vaguely heard of her a couple years ago, but had no clue who she was until this book came out. And she's a good writer. If one views this as essays about a young woman trying to figure life and feminism out, it will work better for the reader. She is young, she is contradictory, but she knows it. Even were she not a model, I feel like she delves into the complications of being hot, hounded by men for that hotness, and trying to maneuver her way around those things. I appreciate that she's vulnerable and honest about her need for male validation, even as she realizes that's a monumentally bad idea. I get some people hated this. That's completely valid. But I couldn't be more than frustrated by her, in the same way there are women I love who are treated similarly by men and crave their validation. Yes, she's a hot girl; but why does the world feel like it has a right to a woman's body, no matter who she is, how she looks, or what she shows to the public? This is just her story, her experience with that, even if it's a narrow one. Basically a woman can't win. Really, I just wanted to scold her and then give her a big hug.
3.75/5 stars
This book was beautifully written with compelling perspectives on societal standards of women and the pressures there are to use ourselves and our bodies to gain respect that already should be given. Emily's insights were fascinating and heartbreaking at times, and honestly I'd recommend everyone to read this.
However, I struggle to rate this book any higher than what I've given it due to the fact that in the rare moment when these topics weren't discussed, there was a palpable disconnect between reader and author.