Emily Ratajkowski spent years convinced the “most” she could do with her life was be a “sex object”.
The supermodel, 31, was propelled to fame after appearing in only a thong aged 21 in singer Robin Thicke’s video for his ‘Blurred Lines’ hit, and has since become a best-selling author and actor, added she hates that women get shamed for “taking advantage of opportunities”.
She told Spanish Vogue: “I’m not saying that you have to make a profit out of your body or sexuality, because I don’t think that’s going to necessarily lead you to happiness, but the truth is that it got me to a place where I was able to write… people cared about my story.
“Once again, it’s complicated. What I consider unfair is shaming young girls for seeing the world as it is and taking advantage of opportunities.
“I don’t think we should turn the tables and blame them for perpetuating these schemes.
“For a long time, I thought the most I could do with my life was basically be a sex object, and in my mid-20s, I said to myself, ‘My God, I’m so unhappy.’
“And then I started writing. It was a way for me to find out how I felt and understand the evolution of my political beliefs.”
Emily added about how she was once asked to turn up looking natural to an audition before the bosses changed their mind: “I remember going to an audition and being told by the people in charge: ‘Don’t wear any makeup, wear a turtleneck, get rid of the artifice.’
“In essence, they wanted it to look bad. Then they called me and said: ‘Actually, too little artifice.’
“And I thought, well, of course, it’s a man who is giving the directions and on the one hand he wanted it to be crude, but on the other he wanted you to continue to be hot.
“I think young women are constantly dealing with this tension between wanting to impress men in positions of power with their attractiveness to gain opportunities, while trying not to cross a line that makes them vulgar.
“The typical virgin-prostitute complex. In that sense, there is no way to win.”
