Title: Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir
Author: Ariella Elovic
Type: Nonfiction
Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Date published: December 8, 2020
A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The funny, exuberant, inspiring antidote to body shame–a full-color graphic memoir celebrating the imperfections of the author’s female body in all its glory.
Too tall. Too short. Too fat. Too thin. The message is everywhere–we need to pluck, wax, shrink, and hide ourselves, to not take up space, emotionally or literally; women are never “just right.” Well, Ariella Elovic, feminist and illustrator extraordinaire, has had enough. In her full-color graphic memoir Cheeky, she takes an inspiring and exuberant head-to-toe look at her own body self-consciousness, and body part by body part, finds her way back to herself.
How does Ariella learn not to see herself as a never-finished DIY project, but to accept and even love the physical attributes society taught her to hide? How does a mirror go from a “black hole of critique” to a “who’s that girl” moment? Essential to her journey is her posse of girlfriends, her “yentas.” Together, they discover that sharing “imperfections” and some of the gross and “unsightly” things our bodies produce can be a source of endless laughs and deep bonding. It helps to have a team with some outside perspectives to keep our inner bullies in check.
Charming and hilarious, full of empathy and candor, and gorgeously illustrated, Cheeky aims to inspire all of us to embrace our bodies, flaws and all, as well as our bodies’ needs, desires, and inherent power.
⤖ My Review ⬻
I had so many feelings when I first saw the cover of Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir (and these feelings were definitely a precursor to how I would feel about the book as a whole). I really enjoyed the pastels, the use of pink, and (of course) the peach! Those of you who have been following my blog for a few years now will know that my theme before this was featured peaches all over the place. I love them!
When it came to processing the details on the cover (and again, this applies to the interior of the book as well), I felt a discomfort that I am now aware has been ingrained in my mind by societal expectations and beauty standards. I mean, there are tampons, pads, and toilet paper flying around. Growing up as a young woman in this society, I was taught that those things had to be hidden so as not to make others (mostly cis men) uncomfortable.
I am definitely of a different opinion now, but even so, I have not progressed enough to not feel some discomfort myself when spotting those things on Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir‘s cover. And at the center of it all (both literally and figuratively) is a naked body–and more specifically, a naked female body. She is standing in a pose reminiscent to Sandro Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus.
But that might be one of the latter things that an onlooker might notice (at least an onlooker raised on the same societal standards as myself) because her legs and arms are hairy, and there is also some hair between her eyebrows.
I love that the author and artist, Ariella Elovic, doesn’t hold back when depicting the human body–especially aspects of the human body that we have been taught to hide, never talk about, and also have been taught to be repulsed by. Our society’s idea of beauty has caused a good many of us to hate our bodies, which shouldn’t be the case. At least…that’s what I got from Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir.
Being a woman herself, Elovik offers the perspective of someone who identifies as female in Western society (and of course, a lot of the time the experiences are personal since this is a memoir) and how we’re expected to look and think, as well as what is considered tasteful in discussions around the female body.
This book really made me re-analyze what I’ve been taught, the wrongness of most of it, and how to move forward in regard to accepting our bodies for the sake of our mental health. Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir really made me face my own internalized prejudices and essentially how I’ve been programmed to feel and see my own body. I definitely recommend this book to those from all walks of life in order to glean a better understanding of how we’ve been taught to think of human bodies, as well as to better understand those around us.
⤖ About the Author ⬻
Ariella Elovic holds a BFA in Communication Design from Washington University in St. Louis and is the founder of @thecheekyblog, an online platform through which she seeks to combat the shame so many of us feel in relation to our bodies. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, KAAST, and Womanly Magazine. Ariealla has collaborated
with various female-interest brands, including Lunette Cup, Whats In Your Box?, Lunapads, and Cora for Women. She lives in New York.
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
⤖ Let's Chat ⬻
Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
Sounds like a really intriguing read, definitely want to check this out at some point. Great review
It definitely was! Hope you enjoy 🙂 Thanks so much for reading my review and commenting!