Tanenbaum is a careful and thorough listener, committed to accurately rendering the voices of young women and non-binary folks when they talk to her about the intricacies of their lives, online and otherwise … The author has done us all a service, adding another must-read book for those who want to understand a new generation's anxieties around appearance and self-image.

Lilith Magazine

"In Sexy Selfie Nation, Leora Tanenbaum deftly wades into the objectification of young women's bodies on social media and the conditions that produce it. Spoiler alert: the problem is not young women posting selfies! People want easy answers, but Tanenbaum considers complex questions: Is the sexy selfie an act of empowerment? Is it a clap back? Is it an imperfect response to an imperfect system? This is a must-read for anyone figuring out how to understand this new moment and how to navigate it as a parent or a young person."

Samhita Mukhopadhyay, author of The Myth of Making It and former executive editor of Teen Vogue

Leora Tanenbaum's gift is speaking directly to young women without judgment or shame about the trickiest of topics-objectification, sexual agency, bodily autonomy--and what and where those lines might be. Sexy Selfie Nation is an indispensable guide to helping them define and make their choices in a culture that sexualizes them from childhood and then blames them when they fight back.

Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex

Finally, teen girls get the respect they deserve from someone who truly cares. In Sexy Selfie Nation, Leora Tanenbaum acts as a mediator between these girls and their disapproving adults, offering impressive empathy to both sides. This book is an essential account of what teens are thinking when they show off their bodies, and a reminder that a safer, shame-free world is possible.

Nona Willis Aronowitz, author of Bad Sex and former sex columnist for Teen Vogue

Tanenbaum tackles an immensely important subject with this enlightening, surprising, and thoroughly researched consideration of young women, clothing, and sexual objectification. In compelling chapters with first person interviews, references to academic studies and general media coverage, as well as the author's own astute observations, Tanenbaum considers the societal minefield girls and young women must navigate simply by getting dressed. In reviewing gendered school dress codes, which demoralize and intimidate, she notes the particular targeting of young women of color, and how teens have smartly tested that reality by shifting identical clothes from white to Black bodies and tracking the different response. From the prosaic (choosing to wear tank tops when it's hot) to the particular (selecting color and style for an emotional lift on difficult days), her subjects run up against disapproval from family, school officials, and strangers who feel qualified to comment, castigate, and judge their clothing choices. Citing court cases and real-life situations from middle school to the Olympics, plus the risks behind “sexy selfies” and the long term degradation wrought by image-based sexual abuse (chiefly “revenge porn”), Tanenbaum's work is great in scope but intimate in execution. Outstanding.

Booklist

A must-read for young women and their parents. Tanenbaum brings an essential feminist lens to the crisis in youth mental health, diagnosing systemic causes while remaining fiercely respectful and protective of young people doing their best in a sexist, screwed up world.

Alexandra Brodsky, author of Sexual Justice