Emily Ratajkowski Penned an Essay For "Harper’s Bazaar" on Femininity, Body Hair, and Double Standards
Emily Ratajkowski is no stranger to making a statement. Since the early days of her career, the model has spoken up about everything from body shaming to feminism to being arrested while protesting the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Now, Emily is opening up about her femininity, her changing views on gender and sexuality, and her belief that all women deserve to express themselves however they want —that you can be smart and sexy, and that what you choose to wear does not define you.
Announced today, Emily penned an essay for Harper’s Bazaar about exploring her femininity and announced it on Instagram, sharing a pic of herself in a black lace bralette with underarm hair clearly visible. “I wrote an essay for @harpersbazaarus about the importance of women’s right to choose (how she dresses, what she posts, if she decides to shave or not) no matter what influences have shaped the way she presents herself,” Emily wrote in her caption. “Do your thing ladies, whatever it might be.”
Her essay begins with a story about a gender studies class she took at UCLA and how it opened her eyes to queer theory and the difference between sexuality and gender; though Emily says she’d been a “staunch feminist” before, she credits this class with leading her to further examine her identity as a woman. After taking a moment to recognize her privilege as a white, cisgender heteonormative woman, Emily went on to say an offhand comment by a friend about her “hyper-femme” presentation made her rethink how she presented herself to the world — and why what she wears, how she expresses herself and her sexuality, and the choices she makes are essential to her identity.
Emily questioned why she felt uncomfortable with her friend’s remark. “What was negative about being called ‘femme’? I realized then that my feeling was in part because of those countless experiences—experiences in which men and women had told me that if I dressed a certain way I wouldn’t be taken seriously and could even be put in danger,” she wrote. “A middle school teacher’s comment, ‘You can’t expect anyone to respect you,’ echoed through my head.” She discusses how our culture often requires women to be either smart or sexy, not both, and mentions that after she was arrested, all anyone mentioned was that she wasn’t wearing a bra under her tank top. “The fact that my body was at all visible had somehow discredited me and my political action. But why?”
For Emily, her strength and power comes from self-love. “I feel powerful when I’m feeling myself, and sometimes feeling myself means wearing a miniskirt. Sometimes it means wearing a giant hoodie and sweats. Sometimes I feel particularly strong and free when I don’t wear a bra under a tank top. That’s just me, in that moment,” she wrote. “If I decide to shave my armpits or grow them out, that’s up to me. For me, body hair is another opportunity for women to exercise their ability to choose—a choice based on how they want to feel and their associations with having or not having body hair. On any given day, I tend to like to shave, but sometimes letting my body hair grow out is what makes me feel sexy.”
Emily closed her essay by reiterating how important it is that young women are allowed to choose how they present themselves to the world, especially in the age of social media. “Ultimately, however one decides to represent themselves, whether it be heteronormative or completely unidentifiable, is that person’s personal choice,” Emily wrote. “Give women the opportunity to be whatever they want and as multifaceted as they can be.”
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
