‘My Body’ has changed my perspective on Feminism - Emily Ratajkowski

I THINK EMILY RATAJKOWSKI HAS SURPRISED US ALL. THIS COLLECTION OF ESSAYS WRITTEN BY THE MODEL, ACTRESS AND NOW AUTHOR HAS REALLY CHANGED MY PRESCRIPTIVE ON WHAT FEMINISM CAN BE AND I WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU. THIS IS TRULY A VERY INTERESTING A BEAUTIFUL BOOK THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN.

This is a collection of 12 essays that touch on themes such as sexuality, sexual assault, anxiety, fame, money and many more. But they all surround one common theme and that is Emily’s body. It is a collection of life stories that really question women’s position in not only the Hollywood industry but also women’s position in a world where men get to tell us what to do so often. Emily does not only question her own position and her actions but also questions what feminism is and what it could be.

One of the first essays in the collection is Blurred Lines. When Emily was 21 her life completely changed once she was featured in the Blurred Lines music video with the singer Robin Thickle. There, she was groped as we later on discover. This essay is not to call out Thickle’s actions. This essay shows us how she felt in an environment that was supposed to be safe. She was surrounded by women, having fun and being comfortable. When this man, with virtually more power than her, made her uncomfortable. This essay explores the questioning her mind goes under. “What if i had yelled at Robin Thickle’s face and made a scene? stopped the shoot? maybe my big break never would’ve happened.” She also feels “ashamed” of how much fun she was having. She feels guilty but still wonders what if she had stopped the shoot. She would have not had her big break, and maybe she would have not been able to write and publish this book. It makes us question her feelings, her being ashamed. Would we feel the same way? Is it valid? Is this being a true feminist, letting the man get away with it? Is this being a feminist? Maybe that is not the questions she was asking herself at the moment. But that is what was going through my head. My answer was answered with the rest of the book: It’s not that simple.

The next essay, also one of my favourites, goes back in time. My Son, Sun is a powerful essay about consent and rape that she has to go through in high school. Not only that but we see her grow up and still be affected by this extreme violation of her body. It then talks about losing someone that has done wrong to you and how that can affect you. This might be one of the saddest essays in this collection as once again, I went into a massive questioning stage when I could not imagine myself in her situation. This book does not give you answers, but you have to find out yourself.

Woozies, further on the book, is another great example of Emily’s great writing. It describes how anxiety affects her and how it affects her relationship with her mother once she finds out she has cancer. I loved this essay and the ways it explored the different ways that anxiety can be lived by different people. I think this is a very different take of what the theme on her body was in the rest of the book. Her body is not only what people see but it also means the way Emily feels. Anxiety is dangerous and she shows us that. She goes into a massive stage of anxiety that causes her to develop problems with building a home and taking care of her relationships.

K-spa at first didn’t make me question too much. I even contemplated not finishing it. But, once I started seeing how cleverly Emily was exploring the central theme, I was hooked once again. Of course, this is the central theme of the book but this is an essay that explores it in a completely different light. We get to understand what Emily goes through every time she is seen as just a “manequin”. How she loses herself in a way when she almost can’t differentiate where she is when her body is working to sell clothes. What is privacy? What does it mean? Privacy to Emily at that time is not being completely alone but, to not be seen and watched by people when she is showing her body, when she is comfortable in her nakedness. I think this tied in the book fantastically, it showed how her body is not only in her modelling life but she also has to live with this constant fear of not being empowered every single day.

I loved this book and I think it’s a very important book that really wants people to think. Stop looking for easy laid down answers and start thinking about questions that you should be exploring. This might be the ultimate solution instead. Emily has done a fantastic job and I cannot wait to keep exploring this topic and questioning what my body is to me.