Beyond Photogenic Feminism
The model-exploitation story works on two registers: liberation and titillation
“This essay crushed me. Everyone should read it. There’s a little piece of every woman’s past in there.” So tweeted writer Heather Havrilesky, in reference to model and actress Emily Ratajkowski’s New York Magazine essay, “Buying Myself Back: When Does a Model Own Her Own Image?”
The essay begins with Ratajkowski reflecting on what the headline suggests: the strangeness — and ethical conundrums — of fashion models not having control over photographs in which they appear. But the story takes a jarring turn when she recounts a specific instance of a photographer sexually assaulting her during a photo shoot, then profiting from those photos.
The assault itself is upsetting to read about (and many who share the piece on Twitter are including trigger warnings). Ratajkowski was personally and professionally courageous to share what happened to her. And yet, the piece left me with qualms I at first had trouble articulating.
Was it something about how Ratajkowski’s brand of feminism, at least prior to this piece, had been sexiness-positive: in favor of the feminist cause of being spectacularly good-looking in a bathing suit? Was I just a jealous woman who looks merely OK in a bathing suit?
Then it struck me that my wariness wasn’t exactly about anything to do with Ratajkowski, but rather how stories like hers fit into the media landscape. It was also the expectation I felt, seeing the piece’s reception, namely that I would not merely empathize, but see my story in hers, which despite having also had some bad experiences with men, I did not.
The article in New York is illustrated by numerous images of Ratajkowski, in varying states of (un)dress. Her gorgeousness is part of the story. She writes, matter-of-factly, “I’d been told by plenty of photographers and agents that my body was one of the things that made me stand out among my peers.” The reason her photos are in…
