What do you think?
Rate this book
Unsqueezed: Springing Free from Skinny Jeans, Nose Jobs, Highlights and Stilettos
Ever check the mirror and wonder if you look good enough? Do you choose your clothes to disguise your flaws? Do you sometimes think plastic surgery might be the only way for you to feel good about your body? Do you ever feel squeezed into someone else's mold? Come and join Margot Starbuck in her journey to become unsqueezed! In twenty-seven brief, funny and reflective chapters she helps us discover why God really gave us bodies and what we can do with them to serve him and others. Jump out of that suffocating mold and discover what your body is really for.
237 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2010
3 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Margot Starbuck
37 books21 followersMargot Starbuck is a New York Times bestselling writer and the author of over twenty books.
She's really jazzed about the release of The Grown Woman's Guide to Online Dating, and you can learn more about that fun thing here: https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/the-gr...
Margot enjoys speaking to audiences around the country that include Wheaton College, MOPs International, Young Life Women’s Weekend, Urban Promise Ministry Summit, and more.
Margot is the mom of 3 adult humans, by birth and adoption, and lives in a one-of-a-kind community built around friends with disabilities in Durham, NC.
Learn more at: http://www.margotstarbuck.com/home.htm
She's really jazzed about the release of The Grown Woman's Guide to Online Dating, and you can learn more about that fun thing here: https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/the-gr...
Margot enjoys speaking to audiences around the country that include Wheaton College, MOPs International, Young Life Women’s Weekend, Urban Promise Ministry Summit, and more.
Margot is the mom of 3 adult humans, by birth and adoption, and lives in a one-of-a-kind community built around friends with disabilities in Durham, NC.
Learn more at: http://www.margotstarbuck.com/home.htm
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 29, 2015
After seeing Mrs. Starbucks appearance in chapel the other day, I readily believe she won't be squeezed!
The high school basketball game promised to be a good one. The Eagles were on home-ground and wanted vengance for their last lost. Sitting in the student section, I could feel the usual excitment and the buzz, but something else, too. God opened my eyes a little bit wider...and I noticed a few other things I had seen but never really processed before.
Like the girl in front of me with the highlights. She was what? maybe sixteen? How many hours had she spent in front of a mirror, trying to get those curls just right and that sparkle-glitter exactly placed near her eyelashes? Or the girl on the way end of the bleachers, with the acne, the one not surrounded by a bevy of people?
I'm just starting out as a Young Life leader, but I know these kids. Maybe I haven't talked to them, but I have seen them. I've whoooped with them when our team scores a goal and exclaimed in dismay when the refs make a bad call. I've noticed their cliques and their hair, but now I'm noticing something else and (to begin connecting the dots) it has something to do with this book.
Almost every girl there is squeezed. She is looking fabulous or attempting to look fabulous or Barbie-skinny or highlighted-blond because we are told that looks good. Our culture values onethingand everyone runs after it. It always amuses me that fat is beautiful in other countries. How many of us need to hear that?
I admit, I'm a lazy person. I wear makeup only occasionally and it took the combined begging of my Mom, sister, and cousin for years for me to get layers. Sometimes, I just don't care. Margot's statement that I don't have to fit into what the culture says I should look like sounds great to me. But it is something I strongly need reminding of. I'm just as apt as the next girl to justify buying clothes I don't really need and sigh when out of fifty pair of jeans, only one fit. I do feel a self-conscious stab when I look in the mirror and realize I've worn my hair the same way all week. When my hurried attempts to do something else fail fifteen-twenty minutes later, I brush it back to its normal look in frustration. I grimace over my wide-hips and flat top. I have way to much acne and my front tooth is a tiny, tiny bit crooked.
And for heavens sake, I'm eighteen.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, Unsqueezed is a book for everyone. For old and young and those in between. It is encouraging and I love Margot's message that as women we don't have to fit into the box of beauty our culture puts us in. God made us the way we are and we are blessed to be that way! Take joy in being tall or short or fat or skinny or busty or flat. Her words are a message everyone needs to hear.
As a slight side note, I want to share something someone once did for me that has been fantastically helpful whenever I hear that little voice telling me I'm not good enough. I don't even know if this particular lady knows how encouraging she has been to me. Whenever Mrs. B would see me, she would say something like "you have such fabulous hair!" or "you have beautiful fingers." And one day, when she was helping me get ready for a dance, she named off some "fabulous" things about me. My hair, my lips, my eyes. I treasured every word she said. Now, when I hear a little nagging voice telling me I look like a monkey when I get up, I mentally review some stuff. Naturally red lips? check. Heart-shaped face? check. Deep-set but pretty eyes? Check.
Don't be afraid to tell the girls in your life that they are beautiful. And tell them how they are beautiful. Give them a check-list. You will be doing an amazing thing for them.
Oh, and throw in a copy of this book while you are at it. You won't regret it.
The high school basketball game promised to be a good one. The Eagles were on home-ground and wanted vengance for their last lost. Sitting in the student section, I could feel the usual excitment and the buzz, but something else, too. God opened my eyes a little bit wider...and I noticed a few other things I had seen but never really processed before.
Like the girl in front of me with the highlights. She was what? maybe sixteen? How many hours had she spent in front of a mirror, trying to get those curls just right and that sparkle-glitter exactly placed near her eyelashes? Or the girl on the way end of the bleachers, with the acne, the one not surrounded by a bevy of people?
I'm just starting out as a Young Life leader, but I know these kids. Maybe I haven't talked to them, but I have seen them. I've whoooped with them when our team scores a goal and exclaimed in dismay when the refs make a bad call. I've noticed their cliques and their hair, but now I'm noticing something else and (to begin connecting the dots) it has something to do with this book.
Almost every girl there is squeezed. She is looking fabulous or attempting to look fabulous or Barbie-skinny or highlighted-blond because we are told that looks good. Our culture values onethingand everyone runs after it. It always amuses me that fat is beautiful in other countries. How many of us need to hear that?
I admit, I'm a lazy person. I wear makeup only occasionally and it took the combined begging of my Mom, sister, and cousin for years for me to get layers. Sometimes, I just don't care. Margot's statement that I don't have to fit into what the culture says I should look like sounds great to me. But it is something I strongly need reminding of. I'm just as apt as the next girl to justify buying clothes I don't really need and sigh when out of fifty pair of jeans, only one fit. I do feel a self-conscious stab when I look in the mirror and realize I've worn my hair the same way all week. When my hurried attempts to do something else fail fifteen-twenty minutes later, I brush it back to its normal look in frustration. I grimace over my wide-hips and flat top. I have way to much acne and my front tooth is a tiny, tiny bit crooked.
And for heavens sake, I'm eighteen.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, Unsqueezed is a book for everyone. For old and young and those in between. It is encouraging and I love Margot's message that as women we don't have to fit into the box of beauty our culture puts us in. God made us the way we are and we are blessed to be that way! Take joy in being tall or short or fat or skinny or busty or flat. Her words are a message everyone needs to hear.
As a slight side note, I want to share something someone once did for me that has been fantastically helpful whenever I hear that little voice telling me I'm not good enough. I don't even know if this particular lady knows how encouraging she has been to me. Whenever Mrs. B would see me, she would say something like "you have such fabulous hair!" or "you have beautiful fingers." And one day, when she was helping me get ready for a dance, she named off some "fabulous" things about me. My hair, my lips, my eyes. I treasured every word she said. Now, when I hear a little nagging voice telling me I look like a monkey when I get up, I mentally review some stuff. Naturally red lips? check. Heart-shaped face? check. Deep-set but pretty eyes? Check.
Don't be afraid to tell the girls in your life that they are beautiful. And tell them how they are beautiful. Give them a check-list. You will be doing an amazing thing for them.
Oh, and throw in a copy of this book while you are at it. You won't regret it.
October 18, 2010
What a great book! Rather than the regular two themes that seem to appear in books about body image for Christian women, this is neither a "Don't worry about it, you're a Princess of the King!" nor "Don't worry about it, you should be covering it up anyway" sort of book. The brief chapters outline the problem with the way women tend to see their bodies. Her main point with the problems we face is that we turn our bodies into objects for others' approval. Starbuck then move to what is the new piece for books like this. She writes about what bodies are for; things like love, celebration, touch, need-meeting are all ways Christ wants me to use my body. What I love about this book is the switch from passive, decorative ways of being a woman to active, serving ways of being a woman. Great book!
August 7, 2012
I enjoyed the topic and premise of the book which discusses body issues, consumerism/materialism, and also touches briefly on other aspects of mindful living. I agree with a lot of what Margot had to say, but I wish there were more powerful examples of what steps to take next. (There are some, but just a brief outline) Also, since this is a "Christian" book, I would have preferred a more in depth use of scripture. But I enjoyed it and would recommend to people who are unaware of the issues she addresses. A good intro to fighting the cultural consumer model.
September 12, 2011
I am buying this book for the tweens/teens in my life. I must admit (hope you don't read this Margot) that I did dye my gray roots within an hour of having finished the book, but I love the way Starbuck helps us question/name/see the dangers and shallowness of viewing ourselves or others as "things." Instead she says we were made with a purpose. Loved it. (She's so funny, too.)
March 2, 2011
Awesome book, great point of view - definitely gives plenty of food for thought. I liked that it was a book that could be read a chapter and a time, and then picked up at another time and another chapter read. Definitely fun...intriguing fun.
January 10, 2015
An encouraging book for women to compare our bodies with the purpose God has for them as opposed to popular culture's expectations. Not as in depth as it could be, but reading it with a book group which provides for some interesting discussions.
July 3, 2012
Unsqueezed challenges American values about beauty and consumerism with humor and an easy-to-read style. I was frustrated by the fact that many of the chapters seemed repetitive, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Several of the author's main points were things I needed to hear.
December 31, 2010
Although I think that what we wear does have some importance, I really appreciate Margot Starbuck's refreshing views on what our bodies were created for...relationships and loving.
January 23, 2011
I really liked this book. Gave me much to think about!
February 28, 2011
Brilliant book, give illumination in my dark path..lebay nian bahasanya.
Totally recommended
Totally recommended
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews