Emily Ratajkowski believes women can make a statement while being sexy

You may know actress Emily Ratajkowski from her role on Gone Girl, in which she played Andie Fitzgerald, the mistress and student of Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck). You may also recognize her from the nude selfie she snapped with Kim Kardashian, in defense of Kim’s original nude selfie. Or, you might know Emily as a feminist who continues to speak out in the name of body positivity.

“[T]he world should not be exclusive of the ideal body,” Ratajkowski told author Naomi Wolf, for their Harper’s Bazaar interview. “It has to include all ideals, all bodies. The whole idea is that when Kim takes a nude selfie, she’s just seeking attention. That’s not the issue. A woman can be seeking attention and also make a statement. They don’t need to be mutually exclusive.”

When speaking about Kim’s nude selfie, Emily made a thought-provoking point. She stated that when someone like Lena Dunham takes off her clothes, she is of course criticized, but is also seen as brave. As for Justin Bieber, when he does the same, the singer is lauded as a grownup. Yet, for women like Kim, taking her top off is automatically seen as sexual and an attention-seeking act.

“It’s not right. Sex is normal. Desire is normal. Attention is normal, and that’s okay,” Emily asserted. “That’s really what slut shaming is, right? … A woman talks about having sex, and it’s like, well, a guy got to have sex with you, so you’re stupid. You’ve given something up.”

Since hitting puberty, Emily has continually faced body negativity and slut-shaming. Yet, feminism helped her understand what was going on around her and allowed her to reclaim her body. Now, Ratajkowski takes selfies to embrace her body and her sexuality. In fact, the actress sees social media as an important part of modern-day feminism, one that’s a tool for women who want to subvert the pressure to look and act a certain way.

“It’s cool to have a format where you can be so direct with an audience. Social media is something women didn’t have 10 years ago, and that’s a big aspect in feminism today,” said Emily, adding:

“I don’t have to be filtered by anyone. I choose.“