Men Have Called Her Crazy

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of mental illness, self-harm, suicidal ideation, addiction, and emotional abuse. 

Anna Marie Tendler was born on June 9, 1985, in Bethel, Connecticut, into a culturally, though not religiously, Jewish household. She attended NYU and completed a bachelor of arts in psychology before earning a master of arts in fashion and textile history. She grew up in a chaotic environment with parents whose marriage, she writes, was “unraveling” even before her birth. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, Tendler struggled with her mental health, specifically with anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. She received minimal help or support from her parents for her mental health until adulthood. Her adolescence was also rife with troubling relationships with men, especially her romantic relationships with several adult men when she was still a teenager. These relationships lay the foundation for Tendler’s exploration of The Impact of Gender Dynamics on Personal Identity, with which she engages throughout the memoir.

Tendler rose to prominence in 2007 when she started a makeup blog on Tumblr that quickly accrued 350,000 followers. She also had a makeup YouTube tutorial series for Amy Poehler’s production company Smart Girls.