Hi, I'm Rachel Hills.

I'm a London-based (via Sydney, Australia) writer, researcher and contributor to publications including the Sydney Morning Herald, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, The Atlantic, Girlfriend and more. I'm also writing a book about Gen Y, sex and identity. This is my blog.

I'd love to hear from you. Submit a question to my Ask Rachel column here, send me an email here, connect with me on Twitter here or find out more about my paid work at www.rachelhills.net.

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To Alexa or not to Alexa… part deux

I have a bit of a tricky - if utterly one-sided - relationship with Alex Chung.
On the one hand, like most people who enjoy looking at pictures of pretty people wearing pretty clothes, my eye was instantly drawn to her… even before she started popping up in all the women’s magazines. On the other hand, it baffles me that she (and people like her) are held up as Awesome, Holistic Role Models for Modern Womanhood, when the only reason for their fame is that… they are pretty and wear pretty clothes.
I was heartened though to see that, in a profile story in this month’s UK Elle, Alexa herself recognises the peculiarity of her situation. See:
“A friend of mine recently said, ‘Dude, I didn’t know you’re a TV presenter! I thought you were some rich b**** whose dad paid for her to stay here.’ I really I hope I don’t appear stupid…” She raises a perfect eyebrow. “Model hang-ups.”
And:
“I feel like I’m blagging it, even now. On stage at the Fashion Awards, standing with the other winners who worked really hard to achieve their success, it was like I’d been given a prize for having a pretty face.”
And perhaps ironically, it’s quotes like that that lead me to think that, as Erica Bartle commented in my Cosmo article on the subject last year, women like Chung have “a lot more to offer the world of fashion and culture” than the catwalk they are usually given.

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    THANK YOU. i thought i was the only one….
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