Perfect

Rosalind Gill is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at City, University of London.

‘Perfect is a brilliant, urgent book; Gill expertly details the profound ambivalence that young women feel about interacting on social media. Through in-depth interviews and robust theoretical analysis, Gill guides us in navigating the complex and contradictory affective practices of young people and social media, from inspiration and security to loneliness and despair. Importantly, Gill resists discourses of moral panics and narcissism when analyzing young women on social media, and instead insists that these practices are about “what it means to be human” in this world. A must-read for anyone working in feminist media studies!’Sarah Banet-Weiser, co-author of Believability: Sexual Violence, Media, and the Politics of Doubt‘A really useful, sometimes troubling, report of life from where it is lived by so many today. Disturbing and affecting.’Susie Orbach, psychotherapist, writer, activist & social critic ‘...a great resource for delving into issues that 18-30-year-old women are facing in daily life, or as an informative read on how social media creates a need to appear perfect’.The Journal of Social Media in Society

• AcknowledgementsPrefaceIntroduction: Perfect: Feeling judged on social media Chapter 1: Life on my phoneChapter 2: Picture perfect: The power of imagesChapter 3: The beauty industry on my phoneChapter 4: Being watched, judged and harassedChapter 5: The work of being socialChapter 6: Fear of getting it wrongConclusion: Feeling judgedNotesReferences