Pick me Girls

Sophie Passmann has written not only her most personal book with "Pick Me Girls," but also a thoughtful examination of the male gaze. Her memoir traces a representative female life and poses the question: What version of herself could Sophie Passmann have been if patriarchy did not exist? "I'm not like other women" is the typical phrase of a pick me girl. Most women have probably thought this at some point, not only in an unconsciously misogynistic distinction from an entire gender but also as a devaluation of their own self – feeling that they are not as thin or do not have as good skin as all the other women. When born as a woman, self-doubt comes as standard. By the time puberty hits, one is confronted with the unwritten golden rule that, while not formally documented, is considered universally valid: The male gaze, being desired, is the highest currency. Why we are all pick me girls and the impossibilities that Sophie Passmann, and most likely every other woman, has to endure throughout her life are dissected by Sophie Passmann with a sharpness and intelligence like no other.