Last week, Emily Ratajkowski gave a big middle finger to patriarchal, slut-shaming haters alongside Kim Kardashian. Now, she's once again taking a feminist stance on Twitter.
In a series of tweets, Ratajkowski explained that her career as a model and actress is separate from her activism. However, she added, her thinking has evolved given the sexism she has experienced.
To make 1 thing clear, my career is not a plitical action. My social media & modeling are not actions I designed to address feminist issues.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) April 6, 2016
My ideas hve developed over time as a response to the criticism and yes, sexism my body & sexuality has generated
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) April 6, 2016
Ratajkowski then broke down her personal mission statement. She wants women to be free to act in their own interest.
Why does evry1 worry abt what's done for attntion? Let's say when a wmn dresses sexy she DOES want attention.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) April 6, 2016
Aren't we passd this bs way of thinking? The whole goal here is to let wmn do what they want for their reasons. To have the power to choose.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) April 6, 2016
Scroll down and look at responses to her her tweets, though, and you'll still find people calling her a hypocrite. How can a woman who starred in the "Blurred Lines" video and who posts sexy selfies on Instagram claim feminism as her cause?
Well, that's exactly the question Ratajkowski addresses in a new interview with Women's Wear Daily. "My response to people saying I post oversexualized images is that it’s my choice and there’s an ownership and empowerment through them. When I take nude photographs, I’m not there for the boys. It’s about owning my sexuality and celebrating it," she said. "And it’s my choice and there has to be room for that in our culture and in our world."
Ratajkowski argued that even though she's adhering to conventional beauty standards, that doesn't negate her opinions. "For example, I wear makeup but that doesn’t mean I’m not a feminist," she explained. "I may wear makeup that enhances my features [and] that plays into the standard of beauty that has been set up by a patriarchal society but I’m living within it. I’m not wearing the makeup to please men, I’m wearing it to please myself. I also am not growing out my armpit hair in protest of patriarchy. I wear a bra. Those are things that I don’t feel I need to reject to make a statement about my sexuality."
Basically, Ratajkowski's body is her own, and she doesn't give a shit if people don't like what she does with it.