My Body by Emily Ratajkowski
When I heard Emily Ratajkowski was coming out with a book, toward the end of last year, I didn’t think much of it. Just another celebrity book, right?
However, during the press maelstrom that accompanied it, I read enough praises and pieces of “My Body”, including this excerpt, that I began to get interested. I decided that since I had power of my own I needed to take back, reading this book would be a good way to start the year. Perhaps it would encourage reflections that would be helpful to me.
So I got the book, and spent the first day of the year on Miami Beach, soaking it in. I read it in little spurts throughout the week, in the cafe as I sat with my coffee, in bed as I relaxed before sleep.
Reaction
I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It’s a true reflection of one woman’s experiences with beauty. We hear about her experiences through her own thoughts and her interactions with others. These experiences are drawn from various points over the course of her life, and it really brings up a lot to think about.
Many of her experiences I could relate to. Many were of a perspective that I did not know and had not ever really considered. It was like slipping on someone else’s shoes for a day and seeing what they see.
For better or worse, I’ve always been drawn to overexposure. Making myself big gives me a sense of security. Be the loudest in the room, the most opinionated, the one in the most revealing dress. Do the most. Being big also means becoming a target. But by inviting people’s gaze and attention and therefore their attacks, I have a sense of more power, less vulnerability, since I’m the one putting myself out there. Or at least that’s how it feels, some of the time.
Emily Ratajkowski, in My Body
I, in fact, love books that give me an insight into someone else’s point of view and life experiences. It feels like having an extra family member who gives you the benefit of their own life experiences through stories.
Not only is it, in a way, “extra experience”, but, perhaps more importantly, it also serves as a springboard to think though some of my own experiences in a somewhat different way. To think, “What I might have missed in my understanding of this situation? Is there another way it could be understood?” Basically, books like this can sometimes just help us understand life better.
Read the book:
Recommendations
I could see “My Body” being used in college courses as the basis of discussion. It would work in courses on memoir, or women’s experiences, or, simply, human experiences. Frankly, I’d love to be in a deep-dive discussion with others about what rises to the surface for each of them when reading this book. It would be great for a book club. There is so much to unpack.
But even just reading it to myself, and ruminating on it, I felt a widened perspective, another lens through which to view the world. It’s an addition to my understanding that I feel helps me make more sense of both the wider world, and of my own stories, past and present.
I’d definitely recommend reading this book, and I’d love to hear from others about it as well. Did you read it? What did you think?
