It’s Terrible the Things I Have to Do to Be Me: On Femininity and Fame

by Philippa Snow

How does an icon become an icon? How did Anna Nicole Smith model herself on Marilyn Monroe? What connects Lindsay Lohan with Elizabeth Taylor? How is self-made beauty Pamela Anderson like trans bond girl Caroline 'Tula' Cossey?

In a series of interconnected essays about pairs of famous women, award-nominated essayist and art critic Philippa Snow explores the echoes and connections between a constellation of female stars and lays bare the artful and gruelling demands of femininity - from the golden age of Hollywood to the Instagram era. Full of the fascinating, entertaining and lurid details you might expect from the lives of mega-famous celebrities, dissected with icicle-sharp intelligence and rendered in stylish, flamboyant prose, Philippa Snow's first full-length non-fiction work is a radically insightful book about the complex meanings and layers of femininity in a male-dominated world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Feminism, Pop Culture

304 pages, Hardcover

Published July 3, 2025

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A set of essays about pairs of female celebrities, examining how the performance of femininity intersects – often destructively – with the demands of fame. Some of the pairings make immediate sense (Amy Winehouse and Billie Holliday; Anna Nicole Smith and Marilyn Monroe), while others appear more obscure (Elizabeth Taylor and Lindsay Lohan; Pamela Anderson and trans model Tula). In Snow’s hands, though, connections click into place effortlessly, and the essays are both incisive and easily understood.

Just as some pairings are more obvious than others, some are more tenuous than others, and I could nitpick aspects of the comparisons if I wanted to criticise something. Really, though, I simply enjoyed this book too much to be troubled by that. For want of a better way to put it, Snow is just so readable: I read almost all of It’s Terrible... in one gulp, walking around the house with it gripped in my hand like it was a particularly compelling novel.

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marmoreal, alembic, chatoyant and thaumaturgic are just four of the words I’m pretty sure I’ve never come across before – so kudos to Ms Perry who is clearly a fan of language and on good terms with her thesaurus. I also came across some new names and movies too, and this led me to watch a couple of interesting films over the weekend.

In some ways this shouldn’t really work and yet it does. It really does. For each chapter Perry takes two female figures/actresses/musicians/models and draws all sorts of comparisons coming up with some great points, fresh angles and other interesting results. Her approach is sharp, probing and affable and this was a good read.

[Marni Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

love xxx perfect paris hot girl read

[Vee 27 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I waited for MONTHS for this to be released and it was worth waiting for. Snow treats all her subjects with curiosity, reverence and respect and with it is a well written, critical and actually fairly loving account.

I really loved this book, and im going to savour the inevitable reread

[Bookona · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
Not that bad honestly. would’ve been way more interesting if i’d known more about these women and their films and stuff my bad for that. But still nothing too wild or groundbreaking in how things played out. Also men… tf.
Free Britney

[Chloe Coulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging and readable, original and incisive. Full of warmth and wit and insight.

[phloeby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection!! I know it’s a good book when I’ve been talking about it in my daily life, referring to and recommending it before I’ve even finished it.

Fans of my Goodreads reviews will know I love books about women, and this book is about so many women. Fans of my own work will also know I recently wrote a short article about the importance of cultural discourse, but Ms Snow here has written the dictionary. This was intelligent, at times academic, analysis of women in the public eye, written in engrossing and consumable language. I now have a long list of films, music, YouTube videos to watch/listen to so don’t speak to me for a few days xx

[LC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent selection of case studies exploring how femininity's destructive tendencies can be exacerbated when you add fame to the mix. Gender's performance must be so much more stressful and intense when there are eyes watching it globally. I hope the sentiment of considering celebrities (especially women) as people becomes more widespread. It's so upsetting to think of how many young women have died in the pursuit of capitalistic greed by the men in their lives or the system around them.

[Phoebe Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the subject and I found it very interesting to draw comparisons on how fame has affected women in the industry similarly, despite the decades between them. It delved into how the media salaciously pursued and tormented these women, by faulting them at every decision they made for themselves. But the style of writing was pretentious, randomly putting in Latin words is pompous.

[Jack Skelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philippa Snow is our top, post-everything pop-culture appraiser with super-empath powers, & great hair. Here is my interview with her in Interview magazine: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/lit...

[charliefrancesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. HOWEVER the encyclopedia didn’t need to come in to play here so much. We can still be smart and not use the most advanced version of a word lmao. Maybe i’m too stupid idk. Either way-yay! Loved it.

[Arabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant and beautifully written collection of essays from Philippa Snow. She never disappoints.

[meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

ridiculously ridiculously good. i can’t stop thinking about it and talking about it…. READ IT!

[Paul Lehane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as I'd hoped it would be, perfectly portraying the destructive power of fame.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A riveting collection of essays that does a good job of humanising the female celebrity experience.

[apryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

really, really great; finishing any philippa snow book always leaves me desperate for more.