Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers

Nancy Amanda Redd

Gotham, 2008 - Health & Fitness - 271 pages

“YouÂ'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 IÂ'd had as a teen and in college— an honest, funny, practical, medically accurate, totally reassuring guide to how womenÂ'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) youÂ'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 wivesÂ' 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 theyÂ'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, itÂ'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 AmericaÂ'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 womenÂ'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.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - librarybrandy - LibraryThing

This isn't something I meant to read cover to cover--I meant to skim it, to see if it was something we should shelve in the Teen area or Adult. Ultimately, I'm coming down on the side of Teen, despite ...

Review: Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers

User Review  - Sharice - Goodreads

tips on everything from doing your eyebrows to whatever

About the author

Two weeks after graduating from Harvard with an honors degree in womenÂ'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 magazineÂ's Top Ten College Women, LÂ'OREALÂ's Beauty of Giving Young Woman of the Year, and one of Harvard magazineÂ'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 nationÂ'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, CBSÂ'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.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers
• Author: Nancy Amanda Redd
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Gotham, 2008
• ISBN: 1592403263, 9781592403264
• Length: 271 pages
• Subjects: Health & Fitness / Women's Health