How You Know the Author

The reality TV show Vanderpump Rules and her former podcast Straight up With Stassi.

Synopsis

In her book, Schroeder shares her experience of being culturally canceled, which resulted in her losing her job as a reality show subject, her podcast, her representation, and her place in society as a whole. She also discusses how she worked to become more conscious of other identities and provides a guide for anyone who may have hit rock bottom.

Most surprising revelation

Schroder was pregnant when her cancellation happened. After being canceled by so many institutions she was concerned she would be canceled by her OB/GYN as well. Thankfully that did not happen.

Is it worth your time?

Schroeder is not the first celebrity to be canceled, nor will she be the last. There is a template one usually follows:

• Acknowledge the mistake.
• Gain greater awareness of identities outside yourself.
• Do a deep and personal examination of the events in their lives that got them to this point.
• Make an inventory of their individual privilege.
• Lastly, develop a plan to improve next time. 

Shoroder at least details the first two steps. But there is a shocking lack of personal introspection for someone writing a book that is their foray back into popular culture.

There were times in the book when she seemed to justify her behavior because online everyone has an opinion and others are mean too. Never mind that she has a platform to speak, hey if everyone else is doing it, it must be ok right?

“The amount of mom-shaming was shocking. As much as I didn’t like seeing other people get attacked over their choices, it made me realize again that I wasn’t the only one being attacked on social media.”

Her tips on surviving rock bottom are bland, pointless, and self-serving. When describing her pregnant body changing, and how self-conscious it made her, especially compared to other women her tip was just don’t be pregnant at the same time as Emma Roberts of Gigi Hadid. I would like to think that this was a tongue-in-cheek pronouncement, but I am afraid the author was serious.

The one bright spot was book recommendations for those who are pregnant, which offers a  look at the pragmatic side of the author who brings a moment of being helpful to the reader. I wish Schroder could have seen that it was this content that made the book worthwhile, and offered a glimpse to her becoming a better person. But these moments are few and far between and her guide to surviving rock bottom comes across as a vapid diary entry.

For a book on how to be canceled, the author seems to have learned nothing. If opening up with honest self-reflection and ripping away her reality persona were beyond her, Schroeder could have at least offered an in-depth look at being canceled: the toll it takes on one’s mental health, idea of self, place in society, and what cancellation says bout society in general. But it seems as though Stassi learned nothing.

In the last section which she details life lessons for her daughter two of the five tips were beauty tips. That’s 40% of her total life lessons were about one’s outer appearance. If this does not speak to an inherent vapidness of her personal character I don’t know what does. “Off with My Head” ultimately leaves readers yearning for more profound self-reflection and a deeper exploration of the consequences of cancel culture, falling short of being a guide for either resilience or redemption.

Author: Stassi Schroeder

Photo Credit: Simon and Schuster