The model took to Twitter to have her say
Emily Ratajkowski has never shied away from speaking out about her feelings on female sexuality and censorship. And now, following the release of a photography tome that features nude images of the actress titled Leder/Ratajkowski, Emily has taken to Twitter to set the record straight on the book and its images which she has deemed ‘a violation’.
In a succession of tweets, Emily explains that photographer Jonathan Leder - who shot the model-slash-actress in 2012 and created the book - took the photos with the intention to only produce five images in an art magazine, and has said that Leder published the entire set without her permission:
Emily has previously written an outspoken Lenny Letter on defining sexy on her own terms. In it, she muses on the representation of female sexuality in society and the male gaze:
‘The implication is that to be sexual is to be trashy because being sexy means playing into men's desires. To me, "sexy" is a kind of beauty, a kind of self-expression, one that is to be celebrated, one that is wonderfully female. Why does the implication have to be that sex is a thing men get to take from women and women give up?’
She goes on to explore the narrow stereotype young women have access to during their formative years:
‘Most adolescent women are introduced to “sexy” women through porn or Photoshopped images of celebrities. Is that the only example of a sexual woman we will provide to the young women of our culture? Where can girls look to see women who find empowerment in deciding when and how to be or feel sexual? Even if being sexualized by society’s gaze is demeaning, there must be a space where women can still be sexual when they choose to be.’
