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How is it that a man can host a national breakfast program in the U.K. and label a young model a “global bimbo”, a “slapper” and publicly tell her to “put some clothes on and get yourself a proper job”? How, in 2017 and given the social climate of the entertainment industry, is a man given such a wide-reaching platform to continually berate and bully a young woman?
Perhaps Piers Morgan’s co-presenter on Good Morning Britain said it best earlier this week: “Piers has got a personal vendetta against [Emily Ratajkowski],” said Susanna Reid. Morgan and Reid were of course referring to Ratajkowski’s risqué video shoot for LOVE magazine’s advent calendar. Every day in December, the publication releases a new video with a top model and last week, Ratajkowski nearly broke the internet with her December 3 release. Scantily-clad in Agent Provocateur and dancing with spaghetti and red wine, the 26-year-old said she could still be a feminist and be sexy. “To me, female sexuality and sexiness, no matter how conditioned it may be by a patriarchal ideal, can be incredibly empowering for a woman if she feels it is empowering to her. The way I dress, act, flirt, dance, have sex — those are my decisions and they shouldn’t be impacted by men. Being sexy is fun and I like it. I should never have to apologise for that.”
Piers responded to the video with: “I don’t know quite what she is. She’s a global bimbo. She’s posted something on Instagram about how what we are watching now is unbelievably empowering to feminists. For goodness sake – get some cloths on and get yourself a proper job.”
Regardless of how you view Ratajkowski’s sexy cameo, Morgan went too far. And, if you look at other models who have been part of the same series for LOVE magazine, they are equally as provocative (hello Ashley Graham). Morgan didn’t reference these. He did however tweet an image of Ratajkowski with the caption: “This is Emily Ratajkowski ‘promoting feminism’. Somewhere, Emmeline Pankhurst just vomited.”
This is Emily Ratajkowski 'promoting feminism'.
Somewhere, Emmeline Pankhurst just vomited. pic.twitter.com/fO7ovctsVb— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 5, 2017
Ratajkowski responded to Morgan overnight in a simple tweet. “Lol, never said my LOVE video was a feminist statement. But now it’s worth saying that telling women what to do with their bodies and sexuality is actually just classic sexism. I can have opinions and also do sexy photo shoot, OK thanks.” She also re-posted an excerpt of her interview with LOVE.
Lol never said my love video was a feminist statement. But now it’s worth saying that telling women what to do with their bodies & sexuality is actually just classic sexism. I️ can have opinions about feminism & also do sexy photo shoots k thanks
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) December 7, 2017
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) December 7, 2017
It’s not the first time Morgan has lashed out at the young model. After her appearance in Robin’s Thicke’s Blurred Lines video, the television host labelled her a “slapper”.
Piers, just give it a rest. If you don’t think Ratajkowski’s sexiness is representative of feminism, a little enlightenment: neither is tearing a woman down.
