Model, mother and global superstar Emily Ratajkowski (Em Rata) has slammed Australia’s penchant for body shaming women in a new interview.
Marie Claire spoke with Em Rata for an interview before she (virtually) headlines Sydney’s mini self-love festival BODfest.
During the interview, Em Rata was asked to comment about two instances of body shaming in Australia that happened in close proximity to each other: Foxtel’s CEO calling Emilia Clarke a “short and dumpy girl” at the Sydney House of the Dragon premiere and NRL player Julia Robinson being called a “man” in a Facebook thread because she has muscles.
“I kind of feel awful saying this. But I think the truth is that it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Em Rata told Marie Claire.
“I think so much of women’s value, whether you’re an actress or an athlete, or even work in a field where your body isn’t necessarily supposed to be a part of your job, your body and your image around your body is still a huge part of who you are, and how the world values women.
“And I think we see that with social media. You know, you can be any age, any profession, and you’re thinking about your body image.”
Em Rata continued to critique the way in which social media has altered the way we look at bodies and ultimately judge them.
“It’s awful that that’s true,” she said.
“I think it’s pretty shocking that people are still in a place where they don’t catch themselves and realise what they’re saying and what they’re playing into.
“Unfortunately, I just think that we have to have a really large cultural shift about what we value with women specifically, and the way we think of their bodies, not as objects, but as a part of a much larger person and whole. I think until that happens, we’re going to continue to see comments like that forever.”
Em Rata also revealed that she much prefers TikTok to Instagram these days, despite the fact that Insta was “the first place that I was able to decide what I wanted to put into the world.”
I guess everyone’s starting to realise how toxic Insta can be. Funny how Instagram once made us feel insecure about ourselves and now we’re the ones making Instagram insecure about what it is.
Let’s leave our comments about women’s bodies to our damn selves, yeah? Just because social media has given you the ability to comment from a distance, doesn’t mean you should.
