It seems extremely redundant, in 2017, to ask whether you can be a feminist and also want to show off your tits sometimes. It’s redundant because the answer is yeah, weirdly enough, having and displaying boobs doesn’t actually negate any of the politics that you follow in your day to day life. Regardless, it’s been an absolutely banner week for giving women shit about their top half.
First it was Emma Watson; avowed feminist, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, and for better or for worse all-around inoffensive person, deciding to go braless for a Vanity Fair shoot. Regardless of the fact that she’s basically wearing a crochet shrug and an Elizabethan ruff, the most conservative you can go while showing a little bit of underboob, everyone still went insane. Twitter’s worst came out to call her a hypocrite for being a feminist and topless; not that she was really even properly topless, but she could be posing legs akimbo in a centrefold and it still wouldn’t actually matter or take away any of the work that she’s done for women. The only point of contention I would have is that it’s a wee bit hypocritical considering she once said of Beyoncé’s visual album, “I felt her message felt very conflicted in the sense that on the one hand she is putting herself in a category of a feminist, but then the camera, it felt very male, such a male voyeuristic experience of her”, but that was three years ago, and she may well have realigned her opinion since then. Regardless, Emma flashing a bit of boob skin under an ugly shrug does not have any impact on her feminism.
Then it was Brie Larson; advocate for abuse survivors, feminist, and most recently the woman behind not-clapping-for-scumbag-Casey-Affleck-at-the-Oscars. Brie appeared on The One Show in a green jumpsuit that happened to be lowcut. It even showed a bit of cleavage. Now, nobody has actually tried to take Larson’s feminist credentials away just yet, but the misogynistic Twitter and tabloid shitstorm was enough to make her wear a high-neck top on Lorraine the next day; although that could just be a coincidence. It’s not really worth giving what people said any more attention or space, but you can imagine. Some even praised the host, an adult man with full control over his body, for looking at her eyes and not her chest throughout the interview.
These things aren’t new, but it’s wild that in 2017, 'Woman Has Boobs!,' is even a valid headline. The, 'she has fans who are kids!' excuse does not fly. Being nude is not the worst thing a role model can do. Words and actions speak louder than tits, and it’s distracting from any kind of real issue to sit around going, 'well, uh, can she be a feminist - I mean, her tits? Right? Has anyone else noticed that she’s got tits? Think of the children!.' Rihanna, Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Brie Larson - these are all women who have been advocates for women and mostly stood by their word, but who have made a big mistake in the public court by dressing and displaying their own adult bodies how they see fit. There are many reasons to criticise women’s feminism and politics, and nobody is perfect, but their body is not a valid one. Rihanna, possibly one of the most frequently criticised celebs for her occasional nudity, became Humanitarian of the Year on the downlow while we were all too busy arguing about cleavage. What have you ever done?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.