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Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers [Paperback]

Nancy Amanda Redd
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)


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Paperback, December 27, 2007 --  
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Book Description

December 27, 2007
"You’d think a Miss America swimsuit winner would feel completely confident about her body, right? Not always! So I decided to write the book I wish I’d had as a teen and in college—an honest, funny, practical, medically accurate, totally reassuring guide to how women’s bodies actually look, smell, feel, behave, and change. Alongside real-deal photographs of women just like you and me (no airbrushing, no supermodels, no kidding) you’ll find medical pictures of things you need to be able to recognize, true confessions by yours truly, and the encouragement you need to appreciate the uniqueness, strength, and beauty of your body. What are you waiting for?"—Nancy Redd

From fashion magazines to taboo Web sites, curious young women have access to tons of old wives' tales about and thousands of airbrushed and inaccurate images of the female body—misinformation and harmful portrayals that can lead to low self-esteem, self-destructive acts, or even disturbing plastic surgery procedures. Teaming up with a leading physician specializing in adolescent health issues, Harvard graduate and former Miss Virginia Nancy Redd now offers a down-to-earth, healing, and reassuring response to those damaging myths. In Body Drama, Redd gives girls insight into the issues they're often too ashamed to raise with a doctor or parent. She also reveals her own experiences with the culture of "American beauty," and shows readers all the many versions of "normal." From body hair and bras, to acne and weight issues, along with crucial issues such as the importance of a healthy self image, Body Drama is a groundbreaking book packed with informative fast facts, FYIs, how-tos, and moving personal anecdotes as well as hundreds of un-retouched photographs. A highly visual book, it’s the first of its kind for women: filled with real information and real photographs of real bodies, to celebrate all our different shapes and sizes.

Named by Glamour magazine as one of America’s top-ten college women "most likely to succeed—at anything," Redd has spent the most recent years of her life on a mission to tackle the issues least discussed but most significant in young women’s lives. Celebrating the many versions of "normal," and replacing seriously erroneous information with the honest, medically proven truth in a language all girls can understand, Body Drama dares to empower a new generation—with facts instead of fantasies, and the priceless gift of self-knowledge.



Editorial Reviews

Review

"Perfecto. This is just what girlitas need today—a get-real guide with un-airbrushed photos that allows them to dialogue with their bodies on the most honest levels."—Deborah Gregory, author, The Cheetah Girls series and Catwalk

"Body Drama should be center stage in every young woman's life. It will make you love every little thing about your body: your sags, you tags, your lumps, your bumps. It's a book of liberation and it's fun."—Eve Ensler

"I love this book! It puts loving (and knowing) your body into words and pictures -- you'll find out yours isn't so different after all. Body Drama has the answers you want to the questions you don't know how to ask. Fun and frank, like talking to a good friend who knows absolutely everything and is willing to dish."—Kim Gandy, President of the National Organization of Women

"In Body Drama, Nancy Redd combines the stylishness of Naomi Campbell, the vibe of your best friend, and photos you always wanted to see but were afraid to ask. An empowering, original, funny, and frank book, Body Drama is poised to become the modern girl's Our Bodies, Ourselves."—Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, authors of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future and Grassroots: A Field Guide to Feminist Activism.

"Body Drama…should be on the shelf of every family, school, and doctor in America."—Nancy Brown, PhD, professor of Adolescent Sexuality at Stanford University, Senior Research Associate at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) Research Institute

"Demystifies female bodies and shows them as they really look: curvy, sometimes pimply and never perfect."Glamour magazine

About the Author

Two weeks after graduating from Harvard with an honors degree in women’s studies, Nancy Redd won the title of Miss Virginia, going on to make the top ten and winning the swimsuit competition at Miss America 2004. Nancy has been named one of Glamour magazine’s Top Ten College Women, L’OREAL’s Beauty of Giving Young Woman of the Year, and one of Harvard magazine’s Top Six Seniors. Nancy once won $250,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and donated 10 percent of her winnings to 4-H, the nation’s oldest youth development program where she is currently a member of the National Board of Trustees. She and her unique views have been featured on E! True Hollywood Story, NPR, PBS, Inside Edition, CBS’s The Early Show, Eyewitness Kids News, Discovery Channel, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times, Forbes magazine, Good Morning America, CosmoGIRL!, J-14, and more. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Gotham; 1 edition (December 27, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1592403263
  • ISBN-13: 978-1592403264
  • Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Excellent survey of the female body and the issues we deal with as girls and women. A. Lloyd  |  43 reviewers made a similar statement
This book needs to be in all high schools! Salome D'Souza  |  26 reviewers made a similar statement
I have read this with my 13 year old daughter and it's great. Kim Cravens  |  25 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 48 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Love the body you're in! December 26, 2007
Format:Paperback
Nancy Amanda Redd is the big sister I wish I'd had. Reading her open, honest answers to "Body Drama" questions shows the power of peer education. Redd consulted a doctor, so the information is medically accurate, but the book is most definitely written from a twentysomething woman's perspective. Every body topic is fair game, "shape, skin, down there, boobs, hair & nails." Sex intersects some of these discussions and when it does, Redd shares practical, non-judgmental advice as needed: addressing sexual health, ending violence, and not being shy about seeking medical care.

But "Body Drama" is first and foremost about loving the body you are in. It's a fascinating topic. I sat down intending to leaf through the book and ended up reading it cover to cover. "Body Drama" is full of photographs of real young women of all ethnicities, shapes, and sizes, illustrating all parts of their bodies. I thought this was done very well, including the page with 24 close-up shots of a variety of vulvas. If this sounds controversial, remember that young women are seeing plenty of unrealistic images of women's bodies. In the age of Photoshop and (unfortunately) ubiquitous porn, it is refreshing to see real women's bodies in all forms. This is a brave book--which is sad to write, in a way, to realize that talking openly and honestly about real body issues still takes courage.

Nancy Amanda Redd has competed in the Miss America pageant and graduated from Harvard. You have to love a former beauty queen who is totally unafraid to present her own insecurities, embarrassing stories, and less-than-flattering junior high photos. Nancy smashes taboos, addressing the most personal and questions with humor, compassion, and solid information.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too December 27, 2007
Format:Paperback
Since I started this job of reviewing about a year and a half ago, I've had the privilege of reading a number of self-help type books geared towards girls and women and their bodies. I have to admit that none have been as comprehensive, helpful, and realistic as BODY DRAMA. This is a book that leaves nothing to the imagination, states complete truths instead of half-truths and myths, and answers the types of questions that many females, regardless of age, are sometimes too embarrassed to ask -- even in the company of their doctors. As an adult, and a married woman with two children, I still found this book to be extremely helpful, and even discovered information that I hadn't previously known.

From your face to your skin, from your hair and nails to your reproductive organs, from skin problems to disease, from the natural shape of your body to the sometimes strange things that happen to said body, Ms. Redd covers them all -- and in detail. There's no hesitation here, and there's definitely no embarrassment. There are only real answers to real questions that everyone, at one time or another, has wondered about. And if you haven't wondered about it yet, believe me, you will!

BODY DRAMA is filled with "fast facts," drama scenarios, "how do I deal?" answers, and full-color photographs. This is a book that younger kids might giggle over, but that older teens will appreciate for its frankness. This is also a book that, once you get your copy, you won't want to part with it. Share it with your daughter, your sister, your cousin, your friend. Don't be ashamed of the body you were born with. Get the answers you need to be healthy and happy.

Kudos to Ms. Redd for such an informative read. This one is a winner!

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and important January 4, 2008
Format:Paperback
What a book this is! I won't repeat what others have said; but everything about it is stunningly clever, from the title to the back cover, of course including the contents. It's unique as advice for teenage girls about their bodies: sharp, brainy, witty beyond merely funny, yet compassionate and never derogatory. You know what this book exudes? Sass with class.

On the back cover we read, among other things, "Know your body. Own your body. Love your body." That sums it, don't you think? But how many girls today do all three? Or two or even one?

Ms. Redd takes 272 knowing and loving pages to tell us not just why they don't embrace those three (or themselves) but how they can, indeed must. If teen girls took to heart even a fraction of the advice in this book, America would be a leader in body acceptance and not the western world's most shameful example of body ignorance, negativity, and phobia.

The author speaks from experience, kicking in things about herself as a minor Body Drama Queen. But the book isn't about her; it's about how to fix the root of a major American psycho-social problem: the perception of female bodies. The solution: start with girls themselves. Duh! If girls can treat themselves to fact instead of fiction, their body confidence will surely rise, along with everyone's well-being.

Famously, there are daring photos and discussions in this book. Yep, including breasts and vulvas. It's about bloody time! (Pardon the non-joke.) Why shouldn't they be included? Do girls have them or not? Do they worry about them or not?

Best of all, the feisty attitude revealed by the vulva spread (I didn't say that, did I) carries on throughout. The book has such a piercingly clear voice that if you felt any closer to the author, you'd be pushed away.

For sure, I don't agree with everything in the book. But my questions are mostly quibbles, coming from a different approach in some areas. The main thing is: this is one boffo book, providing something really important: 'powerment with 'tude. And that's "admirable attitude," not "asinine."

Ms. Redd continually describes a body issue and asks "How do I deal?" Girls will deal by reading and transforming, I hope. The rest of us should deal by getting this book for them --- or anyone who cares about them.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Must have been good
We bought this for our high-school age daughter, and not long afterward, it ended up missing and from what we hear, getting circulated between her friends. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lynn Magill
5.0 out of 5 stars perfect for girls and women
This is a wonderful reference for girls. It answers questions they may not even know they have yet. The variety of subjects covered is quite broad and thorough. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Picklesmurphy1
4.0 out of 5 stars Not just for black girls
I was hoping for a book that would be geared towards black girls and their body issues. This is more for any girl's issues, which means mainly caucasian, with a few black skin... Read more
Published 14 months ago by cjmonkee
5.0 out of 5 stars Some Drama is Good Drama
This book was actually better than I thought it would be. It truly does give you straight forward answers for basic questions women/girls might be too afraid to ask. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Little ol me
5.0 out of 5 stars Every woman and mother of girls should own this book!
I bought this book to help my 17 year old daughter learn about real body issues. She was stuggling with body insecurities and showing early signs of eating issues. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mellomom
5.0 out of 5 stars Relieve the pressure of not looking perfect!
I bought this book for my two granddaughters as they enter their teen years. I read the book before sending it to them and found it addressed every issue that could concern a young... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Roni
4.0 out of 5 stars Better than a health class text book.
I read a review by someone who found this book exploitative and offensive, but I think that reviewer missed the whole point of this book. It's real. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Sidney
5.0 out of 5 stars For Women of All Ages
In a world where photoshopped images of what beauty is prevail, this is a refreshing reference. Any woman of any age really needs to get her hands on this product, especially those... Read more
Published on April 15, 2011 by Suze
5.0 out of 5 stars Time to Stop Living Up to Imaginary Ideas & Expectations
I bought this book a couple of years ago and it really did have an impact on me.

When you're young and impressionable, trying to be and look like Angelina, Jennifer,... Read more
Published on March 9, 2011 by Grace Cardinalli
5.0 out of 5 stars this book is what Every teenage girl needs!!!I
I got this book for my teenage daughter because I knew she had ?'s about certain things but she really wasn't to comfortable asking me. Read more
Published on January 29, 2011 by Redella R. Martinez
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