A deeply researched, humorous, and heartbreaking examination of the culture that uniquely warped millennial women's body image, plus tangible tactics for overcoming the generational trauma
While every generation of women has indisputably battled its own body image demons and cultural pressure to be thin, millennial women have been burdened with a unique set of circumstances as the first generation to grow up with the internet (and the last to remember life without it).
It's Not You, It's Everything explores the countless ways millennial women have been distinctly and uniquely conditioned to hate their bodies - from the overwhelming influx of fat-free food products to the reign of the heroin chic era, the proliferation of pro-Ana blogs, the tyranny of tabloid culture, and the Perez Hilton-era body shaming. Journalist and author Michelle Konstantinovsky draws on her own experience as an elder millennial with a long history of pop culture worship and disordered eating, while also incorporating thorough research and interviews with psychologists, Hollywood stars, and even a few Kardashian scholars (seriously).
In between moments of discussing serious topics related to mental health, motherhood, the moralization of weight, Konstantinovsky digs deep into humor and nostalgia to convey relatable, sentimental anecdotes and memories from the '90s, 2000s, and beyond. Reflecting on her early days in AOL chat rooms, wall-to-wall Leonardo DiCaprio posters, deep musings on Dawson's Creek, and more, Konstantinovsky recalls the bright spots of a millennial adolescence largely tinged by messages and rhetoric inciting body hatred. With 28.8 million Americans suffering from an eating disorder at some point in their lifetime, Konstantinovsky looks at how a generation was conditioned to adopt a spectrum of seriously disordered thoughts and behaviors as a direct response to the problematic and dangerous messaging hurled their way since childhood.
Within this deep exploration, It's Not You, It's Everything contemplates what a return to the popularization of disordered eating means for future generations and provides concrete, tangible steps to finally, completely let go and break the cycle.
