Liz Jones - A very British role model?

Liz Jones - Photo from Stylist.co.uk

I recently finished Liz Jones’ latest book, ‘Girl Least Likely To’, a memoir of her journalistic career, her eating disorder and some very unsatisfying relationships. Liz Jones has been a bit of a hate figure among some people for a career which, since stepping down as Editor of Marie Claire, seems to have been built on soul-baringly confessional columns and hilarious critiques of herself and sometimes others. This book is more of the same – great if, like me, you find damaged, dysfunctional but somehow awesome females fascinating (see also my obsession with Tracy Emin). 

I’ve read before that women can’t get over the guilt of passing themselves off as something they don’t think that they are, and have a tremendous urge to confess. This whole books feels like Jones feeling that she has to set the story straight and make sure everyone knows just how strange she is. Like most of us, I imagine that she feels she is strange and unacceptable in a strange and completely different way from everyone else. 

But in some ways, she is an everywoman. She says what you hope other Alpha Females and expensive looking 50 years old are thinking (‘the fear, the horror!’). She documents the self-sabotage and insecurity and random, confusing feeling about parents who are either dead or very elderly. She is a peculiarly British success story, never feeling worthy, ashamed of coming from suburbia, who made a success of herself by knocking herself down in public. 

I think most people will find some aspect of Jones’ insecurities will ring true and some may be shocked that anyone else feels that way. However, I wonder if Jones’ puritanical self-loathing would be taken as far by anyone within my generation. We tend to be a bit more tolerant of ourselves! 

Here are three things I learned from reading Liz Jones’ ‘Girl Least Likely To’, and some of my favourite quotes. 

1. Work hard and be well informed. You would be surprised how much this will differentiate you. 
2. Spending a lot of money on designer clothes leads to trouble down the line and ultimately doesn’t change anything. And everything will still have loose threads!
3. Don’t hold back or hide because you don’t think you are good enough at the moment, but expect to be some day in the future. That day may never come. In fact you may be peaking right now; make the most of it! 

Favourite quotes:

“On the first day, I must have seemed to boss from hell. I was staggered that all the young women seemed so ill informed, and slow, and lazy. Coming from newspapers, where you get to your desk having vacuumed all the other papers and immediately log on and start typing I was unused to women sitting and chatting, sipping coffee. They never seemed to have read anything in the news, all wrapped up as they were, in their own safe worlds.” 

“I sit in Dior, looking prim, as an homage: as always I have gone too far, arrived too early, taken it all much too seriously.” 

“It was as though a switch had been turned in my head… From then on, I felt that flesh was bad and lazy. Flesh caused problems and mess and expense: bleeding and towels and boys and gunshot weddings and arguments and overdoses and tears. And it meant I wasn’t trying hard enough to be good.” 

“I knew then I could never be a proper journalist, talking to people who didn’t want to talk to me… I knew I was boring and 

had nothing to say.”

Liz Jones - Photo from Stylist.co.uk