Everybody (Else) Is Perfect: How I Survived Hypocrisy, Beauty, Clicks, and Likes
Gabrielle Korn
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
From the former editor-in-chief of Nylon comes a provocative and intimate collection of personal and cultural essays featuring eye-opening explorations of hot button topics for modern women, including internet feminism, impossible beauty standards in social media, shifting ideals about sexuality, and much more. Gabrielle Korn starts her professional life with all the right credentials. Prestigious college degree? Check. A loving, accepting family? Check. Instagram-worthy offices and a tight-knit group of friends? Check, check. Gabrielle's life seems to reach the crescendo of perfect when she gets named the youngest editor-in-chief in the history of one of fashion's most influential publication. Suddenly she's invited to the world's most epic parties, comped beautiful clothes and shoes from trendy designers, and asked to weigh in on everything from gay rights to lip gloss on one of the most influential digital platforms. But behind the scenes, things are far from perfect. In fact, just a few months before landing her dream job, Gabrielle's health and wellbeing are on the line, and her promotion to editor-in-chief becomes the ultimate test of strength. In this collection of inspirational and searing essays, Gabrielle reveals exactly what it's truly like in the fashion world, trying to find love as a young lesbian in New York City, battling with anorexia, and trying not to lose herself in a mirage of women's empowerment and Instagram perfection. Through deeply personal essays, Gabrielle recounts her struggles to reconcile her long-held insecurities about her body while coming out in the era of The L Word, where swoon-worthy lesbians are portrayed as skinny, fashion-perfect, and power-hungry. She takes us with her everywhere from New York Fashion Week to the doctor's office, revealing that the forces that try to keep women small are more pervasive than anyone wants to admit, especially in a world that's been newly branded as woke. From #MeToo to commercialized body positivity, Korn's biting, darkly funny analysis turns feminist commentary on its head. Both an in-your-face take on impossible beauty standards and entrenched media ideals and an inspiring call for personal authenticity, this powerful collection is ideal for fans of Roxane Gay and Rebecca Solnit.
Product Details
Price
$17.00
$15.81
Publisher
Atria Books
Publish Date
January 26, 2021
Pages
272
Dimensions
5.4 X 8.3 X 0.7 inches | 0.5 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781982127763
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About the Author
GABRIELLE KORN is the author of Everybody (Else) Is Perfect and the former Editor-in-Chief of Nylon. She recently led LGBTQ+ strategy at Netflix, and her writing has been published across the internet since 2011, with bylines in Instyle, Coveteur, Autostraddle, Nylon, Refinery29, Oprah, and more. Originally from New York, she now lives in Los Angeles with her wife, and together they run The Pink Door artist and writer residency.
Reviews
"A confident, confessional modern account of breaking free from image obsession."-- "Kirkus Reviews"
"A captivating page-turner that feels exclusive without resorting to cattiness or cheap gossip. . . . She simultaneously digs below the surface of an industry that often feels skin deep, while divulging integral parts of her own history along the way. Granting front row access to an exclusive world many of us will never experience firsthand, she makes feminism and fashion feel like cohorts in her compulsively readable book."--Tegan Quin, New York Times bestselling author of High School "Kirkus Reviews"
"Gabrielle perfectly captures the feeling both of growing up as a woman in the early aughts as well as working in the digital landscape during the boom period of the last decade--in fact, she nails the latter so accurately it may give flashbacks to anyone else who worked in the content mines over that time period. She candidly shares personal anecdotes about discovering her sexuality, dealing with assault and coping with an eating disorder, weaving together both a keen self-awareness and a frank analysis of the society which helped shape her experiences. Everybody (Else) Is Perfect is, well, perfect."--Tyler McCall, editor in chief, Fashionista "Kirkus Reviews"
"Gabrielle's commitment to taking fashion and beauty seriously--in ways that presaged much of women's media at the time--has been a true through-line of her career. I have learned so much just by getting to hear Gabrielle speak, and I am so excited that readers will get to hear her voice--in its unadulterated, sometimes comical candor--with this book. By the end, you'll be calling her your friend, too."--Phil Picardi, editor in chief of Out magazine and former editor in chief of Teen Vogue "Kirkus Reviews"
"An honest, unflinching, and yet unfailingly compassionate memoir, Everybody (Else) Is Perfect tackles fashion media, lesbian identity, eating disorders, and gender justice with vision, ethical commitment, and uncommon grace. Korn recounts all her professional successes and private struggles with frankness and humor, and she makes a compelling case for a media that's truly inclusive, and a fashion world that serves and values all of us. I found myself alternately laughing out loud and nodding along vigorously. Everybody (Else) reads like one of those long, late night conversations with your best friend. It will leave you stronger, and fortified for the feminist fight."--Moira Donegan, columnist for The Guardian "Kirkus Reviews"
"Filled with insight, wisdom, wit, and a clingy Scorpio ex, Gabrielle Korn's Everybody (Else) Is Perfect is a bracingly candid look into what it's like to navigate the often ugly realities of women's media. Korn is fearless in her exploration of her professional and personal life, and has written a queer, feminist bible for all the millennials who haven't yet figured out that we are enough, just the way we are."--Kristin Iversen "Kirkus Reviews"
"A captivating page-turner that feels exclusive without resorting to cattiness or cheap gossip. . . . She simultaneously digs below the surface of an industry that often feels skin deep, while divulging integral parts of her own history along the way. Granting front row access to an exclusive world many of us will never experience firsthand, she makes feminism and fashion feel like cohorts in her compulsively readable book."--Tegan Quin, New York Times bestselling author of High School "Kirkus Reviews"
"Gabrielle perfectly captures the feeling both of growing up as a woman in the early aughts as well as working in the digital landscape during the boom period of the last decade--in fact, she nails the latter so accurately it may give flashbacks to anyone else who worked in the content mines over that time period. She candidly shares personal anecdotes about discovering her sexuality, dealing with assault and coping with an eating disorder, weaving together both a keen self-awareness and a frank analysis of the society which helped shape her experiences. Everybody (Else) Is Perfect is, well, perfect."--Tyler McCall, editor in chief, Fashionista "Kirkus Reviews"
"Gabrielle's commitment to taking fashion and beauty seriously--in ways that presaged much of women's media at the time--has been a true through-line of her career. I have learned so much just by getting to hear Gabrielle speak, and I am so excited that readers will get to hear her voice--in its unadulterated, sometimes comical candor--with this book. By the end, you'll be calling her your friend, too."--Phil Picardi, editor in chief of Out magazine and former editor in chief of Teen Vogue "Kirkus Reviews"
"An honest, unflinching, and yet unfailingly compassionate memoir, Everybody (Else) Is Perfect tackles fashion media, lesbian identity, eating disorders, and gender justice with vision, ethical commitment, and uncommon grace. Korn recounts all her professional successes and private struggles with frankness and humor, and she makes a compelling case for a media that's truly inclusive, and a fashion world that serves and values all of us. I found myself alternately laughing out loud and nodding along vigorously. Everybody (Else) reads like one of those long, late night conversations with your best friend. It will leave you stronger, and fortified for the feminist fight."--Moira Donegan, columnist for The Guardian "Kirkus Reviews"
"Filled with insight, wisdom, wit, and a clingy Scorpio ex, Gabrielle Korn's Everybody (Else) Is Perfect is a bracingly candid look into what it's like to navigate the often ugly realities of women's media. Korn is fearless in her exploration of her professional and personal life, and has written a queer, feminist bible for all the millennials who haven't yet figured out that we are enough, just the way we are."--Kristin Iversen "Kirkus Reviews"
