Leandra Medine Cohen (born December 20, 1988) is an American author, blogger, and humor writer best known for ''Man Repeller''.

Early life and education

Medine was born on December 20, 1988 in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Her father, Mois Medine, is of Turkish-Jewish descent, and her mother, Lyora "Laura" Medine, is of Iranian-Jewish descent. She grew up in an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

household. Medine attended the

Ramaz School The Ramaz School is an American coeducational Jewish Modern Orthodox day school which offers a dual curriculum of general studies taught in English and Judaic studies taught in Hebrew. The school is located on the Upper East Side of Manhatta ...

in Manhattan. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the New School's

Eugene Lang College Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, commonly referred to as Lang, is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School. It is located on-campus in Greenwich Village in New York City on West 11th Street off Sixth Avenue ( ...

in May 2011.

Career

Early career

Medine began writing online in 2009 while a student at The New School. After studying abroad in Paris, she started a blog called ''Four Months in Paris'', later renaming it ''Boogers + Bagels''.

''Man Repeller''

Medine started the ''Man Repeller'' blog in May 2010. The idea for the blog came during a shopping trip with her friend where they discussed how everything was man-repelling. A few days after it launched, the blog was featured on the fashion website

Refinery29 Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Sundial Media Group. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Ref ...

. Medine began collaborating with magazines like '' Lucky'' and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

''. In 2012, Medine appeared in a ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 list. ''Man Repeller'' was included in ''

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

's'' "25 Best Blogs of 2012", and received "Best Overall Blog" at the 2012 Bloglovin' Awards. Initially, the blog was written solely by Medine but later grew to include contributions from several writers and editors. In September 2013,

Grand Central Publishing Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Kinney National Company acquired the New York City-based Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publis ...

published the book ''Man Repeller: Seeking Love, Finding Overalls.'' Medine announced in June 2020 that she would “step back” from her involvement in ''Man Repeller'' after allegations of racism. In September 2020, the site was rebranded to ''Repeller''. On October 22, 2020, it was confirmed that ''Repeller'' would shut down due to financial constraints. Medine currently maintains a newsletter entitled "The Cereal Aisle".

Brand partnerships

Medine has collaborated with designers on limited collections of clothes and accessories, including Gryphon, shoe companies Del Toro and

Superga Superga ( or ) is a hill situated on the south bank of the river Po to the east of Turin in north-west Italy. At above sea level, it is one of the most prominent of the hills that ring the city. Superga is known for the Basilica of Superga a ...

, jewelry line Dannijo, and clothing line PJK.http://www.businessoffashion.com/2012/07/the-business-of-blogging-the-man-repeller.html Business of Fashion: The Business of Blogging , The Man Repeller In 2012, Medine signed with the

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency, LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous client ...

, an entertainment talent agency headquartered in Los Angeles, California. In 2016, Medine collaborated with

Net-a-Porter YOOX Net-a-Porter Group S.p.A. is an Italian online fashion retailer created on 5 October 2015 after the merger between Yoox Group and Net-a-porter Group (NAP). Yoox was originally founded by Federico Marchetti (businessman), Federico Marchetti ...

to launch the shoe line MR by Man Repeller. Later, Medine created her own shoe line ''Leandra Medine.'' On October 29, 2019, Medine launched a partnership collection with

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

Publications

Medine Cohen released her first book, an essay collection, and a memoir titled ''Man Repeller: Seeking Love, Finding Overalls'', in 2013.

Personal life

In December 2011, Medine announced her engagement to Abie J. Cohen, a financial advisor at

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

, whom she had met when she was 17 years old. Medine and Cohen married in June 2012. They live in the East Village. In a ''Man Repeller'' article published in December 2016, Medine revealed she had suffered a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

. On March 1, 2018, Medine gave birth to twin girls, Laura and Madeline. Medine gave birth to her third daughter, Joelle, in August 2024.

References

External links

The Man Repeller
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medine, Leandra 1988 births 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American women writers Fashion influencers American fashion journalists American humorists 21st-century American memoirists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists American Orthodox Jews American women bloggers American bloggers American women essayists American women humorists American women memoirists American women non-fiction writers Eugene Lang College alumni Jewish American journalists Jewish American memoirists Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish bloggers Jewish women writers Mizrahi feminists Living people People from the Upper East Side Writers from Manhattan Ramaz School alumni People from the East Village, Manhattan Shorty Award winners American people of Iranian-Jewish descent American people of Turkish-Jewish descent 21st-century American Jews American feminist writers