Emily Ratajkowski has come under fire from the public, but she's not about to let these comments slide.
At 25 years old, the American model has rapidly risen in the ranks since she first stole the spotlight of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" music video. The appearance immediately turned heads and became the project Ratajkowski was most prominently tied to. However, three years later, naysayers began questioning her intentions when she publicly turned her sights to politics.
After stumping for former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders this year, the We Are Your Friends actress was met with harsh backlash aimed at her body.
"Commenters said I had 'an excess of beauty and lack of brain' and told me to 'shut up and show us your tits,'" Ratakowski pointed out in a personal essay for the October issue of Glamour. "But I was also criticized in a very specific way— for seeking attention. They wrote me off as 'a desperate attention whore,' saying I was taking part in the conversation only because everybody else was too."
However, the self-described "politically minded" star wasn't following some trend—she was advocating on behalf of the issues she was passionate about. Still, Ratajkowski realized she and women everywhere shouldn't even have to explain the intentions behind their actions.
"I realized then that I've been called an attention whore so often that I had almost gotten used to it. And as women we are accused of seeking attention more than men are, whether for speaking out politically, as I did, for dressing a certain way, or for even posting a selfie," she explained. "Our culture has a double standard that runs so deep, many women have actually built up an automatic defense—attempting to be a step ahead of potential critics by making sure we have 'real' reasons for anything we say or do"—whether it be root for a politician, star in a music video or both.
"Our society tells women we can't be, say, sexy and confident and opinionated about politics," she continued. "This would allow us too much power. Instead our society asks us to declare and defend our motivations, which makes us second-guess them, all while men do what they please without question."
Throughout the essay, the actress noted an inequality at play between the sexes—one she witnessed firsthand when her female friends feared they looked like they were "trying too hard" while getting ready to go out. "The truth is that both groups want to be noticed. Yet we view a man's desire for attention as a natural instinct; with a woman, we label her a narcissist," she wrote, citing two prominent celebrity examples.
"Mick Jagger is 73, and he still sometimes wears his shirt open and gyrates onstage. We understand that this is a part of his performance and artistic brand. Meanwhile, when Madonna, who is 58 and a revolutionary in that same kind of artistic sexuality, wears a sheer dress to the Met Gala, critics call her 'a hot mess' who's 'desperate,'" Ratajkowski explained. "Our society doesn't question men's motivations for taking their shirt off, or shaving, or talking about politics—nor should it. Wanting attention is genderless. It's human."
Therefore, Ratajkowski has issued a new call on society. "We shouldn't have to apologize for wanting attention either. We don't owe anyone an explanation," she concluded. "It's not our responsibility to change the way we are seen—it's society's responsibility to change the way it sees us."
The October issue of Glamour will be available on newsstands Sept. 13.