Summary of Sophia Benoit's Well, This Is Exhausting

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 I grew up in a household that was not prudish about sex, but I still got the message that sex was wrong because of the general silence and discomfort around the topic. I was fat, and in my mind, fat people were not allowed to be sexual.
#2 I grew up believing that I was not sexually desirable because I was fat. The media I was consuming only reinforced the belief that I needed to be thinner in order for someone to ever want me.
#3 There are few depictions of young women being horny in popular culture. Masturbation jokes were a way for women to normalize their own sexual appetite. Love was not cool. I believed for many years that romantic love was gross and overrated.
#4 I had a crush on almost everyone I saw from the time I was five years old. I was convinced that the zenith of human experience was someone being attracted to you. This belief caused me no problems whatsoever.

Sujets

• Love
• Love (disambiguation)
• Autobiography
• The Women
• Woman
• Biography
• Women
• Sexualité
• sexualité
• Sexualité

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 29 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822501195
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Sophia Benoit's Well, This Is Exhausting
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I grew up in a household that was not prudish about sex, but I still got the message that sex was wrong because of the general silence and discomfort around the topic. I was fat, and in my mind, fat people were not allowed to be sexual.

#2

I grew up believing that I was not sexually desirable because I was fat. The media I was consuming only reinforced the belief that I needed to be thinner in order for someone to ever want me.

#3

There are few depictions of young women being horny in popular culture. Masturbation jokes were a way for women to normalize their own sexual appetite. Love was not cool. I believed for many years that romantic love was gross and overrated.

#4

I had a crush on almost everyone I saw from the time I was five years old. I was convinced that the zenith of human experience was someone being attracted to you. This belief caused me no problems whatsoever.

#5

I had gotten out of school for a few hours to get an appointment with Dr. S, who informed my mother that I hated myself. I didn’t think that was an option, since I was stuck with myself. I didn’t hate myself because I was fat, but because I loved eating and couldn’t stop.

#6

I was overweight around the same age my father had been when he was overweight, and I knew it was because I had a problem. I was eating lots of junk food, and I knew it wasn’t good for me. But I couldn’t stop.

#7

I was anorexic, and I loved eating. I was constantly hungry, and I loved food too much to stop. I was sent to a dietician, who missed the point entirely and told me that if I simply swapped salami in my sandwiches for turkey, I’d be healthier. That was more fun to discuss than my parents’ divorce.

#8

I as a fat kid, became my body and everything around me was affected by it. People became uncomfortable around me, and eventually I shifted my obsession from eating to my body.

#9

As a woman, and especially a minority woman, your body only has value when it is consumable by the people in charge. I was so hungry for someone to like my body in any way, but especially my boobs, that I was thrilled when my algebra class crush pointed out my big breasts.

#10

I craved attention, and I tried being funny, because if you’re funny at least you’re getting some attention. But I was also mean and obnoxious, because I wanted attention. I never got to text with a guy friend, and I never got invited to events by guys.

#11

I thought I would be divorced by now, not because I’m romantic, but because I thought I’d be married by now and in order to be married, you must have gotten divorced at some point. I always thought being divorced was glamorous, adult, and sophisticated.

#12

I assumed that I would live in New York City when I grew up. I listened to the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys song Empire State of Mind while working out in high school, preparing for my eventual career in the Big Apple.

#13

I assumed I would be extremely fit and hot in my adult life. I did not imagine that the stretch marks of my youth would carry over into the fantastical world of adulthood. I thought I would have long, lean legs that I showed off in miniskirts.

#14

I vacillated on the idea of having children. When I did imagine them, I had them with an Italian man, and I never spoke English at home. I thought I would be extraordinary, that everyone would want to be me or fuck me.

#15

My parents split up when I was young, and I have memories of them together as a family, but they never were a family after that. They never talked to each other, and they never communicated with me or their daughter.

#16

I had a deep discomfort with not having the right clothes, which was made worse by the fact that I loved fashion. I was constantly trying to hide my weight, which didn't help matters.

#17

I was also overweight, which made me a target for bullies in school. I had to try hard to avoid gym class, as I was not allowed to wear heels there.

#18

There is no easy way to avoid shame as a kid, but in my experience, it centered around my body. What my body couldn’t do, what my body did that I didn’t want it to do, and what my body looked like.

#19

The movie Grease is ostensibly about how you should change for the person you love. However, the ending is terrible both narratively and morally. Sandy Olsson shows up to the school fair sewn into a black outfit with heels on, and Danny is like, Sandy. in the most horny, desperate way.

#20

The rom-coms that shaped my childhood, and those that I watched over and over again, were the ones that I chose to include in my list. I left out many, such as The Wedding Planner, The Proposal, and 13 Going on 30, because I wanted to discuss the protagonists who had a lesson to teach.

#21

The movie You’ve Got Mail is a helpful depiction of the relationship between Kathleen Kelly, the owner of a children’s bookstore, and Joe Fox, the owner of a book superstore.