"A sharp, powerful exploration of how media and culture shaped a generation of girls. And the women they became. Essential, eye-opening reading."
In Girl on Girl, Sophie Gilbert delivers a powerful, clear-eyed interrogation of how culture, particularly the visual and media landscape of the 1990s and 2000s, shaped a generation of women. Drawing from art, pop culture, and her own personal narrative, Gilbert invites readers to re-examine the stories we absorbed about what it meant to be a girl. And what those stories cost us.
This is part memoir, part cultural history, and part feminist manifesto. Gilbert deftly explores how young women were taught to see themselves. Not as subjects, but as objects to be consumed, ranked, and judged. From the "lad mag" era to the tabloid frenzy that devoured Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and others, she exposes the performative, often punishing lens through which girlhood was. And still is viewed.
What sets this book apart is Gilbert’s refusal to look away. She confronts the complicity of media (and her own role within it as a journalist), and doesn’t shy away from the shame, confusion, and internalised misogyny so many women will recognise. Her writing is incisive yet deeply empathetic, weaving analysis with personal reflection in a way that is both intelligent and intimate.
For readers who came of age in the pre-social media era, this book will feel like someone finally naming the unease that simmered under the surface of glossy magazines, makeover shows, and paparazzi flashbulbs. For younger readers, Girl on Girl offers crucial context to understand how the current landscape, from influencer culture to deep fake misogyny, is rooted in what came before.
Ultimately, this is a book about visibility: how girls were seen, how they learned to see themselves, and how we might begin to reclaim that narrative. It’s a timely, resonant, and necessary read.
MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN NEW YORK TIMES, HARPER'S BAZAAR, STYLIST, MARIE CLAIRE AND WASHINGTON POST
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN NEW YORK TIMES, HARPER'S BAZAAR, STYLIST, MARIE CLAIRE AND WASHINGTON POSTCosmetic surgeries are at an all-time high, Ozempic is bringing back 'heroin chic' and TikTok trad-wives are on the rise - after four waves of feminism, what went wrong?Despite decades of progress, the gains of the feminist movement feel more fragile than ever. But as Atlantic critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert points out, this is not a unique moment.
Girl on Girl features in the following genres: Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Star Books, Biographies & Autobiographies, History, Feminism and feminist theory, Popular culture, Media studies: TV and society
Paperback, Hardback. £11.69, down from the £12.99 cover price. In Stock.
Girl on Girl was written by Sophie Gilbert and published by John Murray an imprint of John Murray Press
Girl on Girl has 352 pages
£11.69, reduced from £12.99. In Stock.
.jpeg)
-196x200.jpg)
