Piers Morgan sparks furious debate over whether Emily Ratajkowski’s spaghetti video is ‘female empowerment’
Piers thinks Emily’s video goes against female empowerment (Picture: ITV) Piers Morgan sparked a fur..
Piers Morgan sparked a furious debate over Emily Ratajkowski’s Instagram video.
The Good Morning Britain host found himself at loggerheads with Nicola McClean over the clip, which sees Emily writhing around on a bed of spaghetti.
It was uploaded by the Love magazine, and labelled as ‘female empowerment’, which is what Piers took exception to.
Emily herself said of the video: ‘To me, female sexuality and sexiness, no matter how conditioned it may be by a patriarchal ideal, can be incredibly empowering for a woman if she feels it is empowering to her. The way I dress, act, flirt, dance, have sex – those are my decisions and they shouldn’t be impacted by men. Being sexy is fun and I like it. I should never have to apologize for that.’
A post shared by LOVE MAGAZINE (@thelovemagazine) on
On the 3rd day of Christmas my true #LOVEADVENT gave to me @emrata’s amazing polemic on female empowerment. “To me, female sexuality and sexiness, no matter how conditioned it may be by a patriarchal ideal, can be incredibly empowering for a woman if she feels it is empowering to her. The way I dress, act, flirt, dance, have sex – those are my decisions and they shouldn't be impacted by men. Being sexy is fun and I like it. I should never have to apologize for that. My life is on my terms and if I feel like putting on sexy underwear, it’s for me. Personal choice is the core ideal in my concept of feminism. Katie directed us to say ‘Stay Strong’ at the end of each video and I think it's a message from one woman to another. You're watching a video of a girl grinding in lingerie or whatever else and she is looking into the camera at the end saying, ‘you do you, however YOU want to, fuck the rest’. In the wake of the Harvey fallout and women coming forward with incredible amounts of sexual harassment cases, I have been so disappointed to hear women talk about "modesty" and "our responsibility" as if we need to, yet again, adjust to make it "easier" for the rest of the world. I'm tired of having to consider how I might be perceived by men if I wear the short skirt or post a sexy Instagram. I want to do what I want to do. Feminism isn't about adjusting, it's about freedom and choice. Do you think viewers will understand that, given the current wider conversation about the sexual objectification of women? why or why not? What are the risks? This is something I've battled with personally and publicly. I've had men comment on sexy images of me online and say "this is empowering to you? Ha! I just masturbated to it so hope you feel good about yourself!" I guess that's the way people can react, which ironically, ultimately serves my point. I don't care about your reaction or what you do with my expression of self. In fact, it has nothing to do with you at all and that's the point-which is why it feels good. Ultimately, if a woman wants to wear a burka or nothing at all, it's great if it's what she wants and feels good about.”
#STAYSTRONG Link in bio to full filmHowever, Piers took umbrage to the idea, as did Susanna Reid, claiming it’s not about feminism but about her merely furthering her career.
Fighting her corner was former glamour model Nicola McClean.
‘I don’t get the spaghetti bit, but I do think it’s about personal choice,’ Nicola argued. ‘Feminism is like religion, everyone has a different take on it.
‘I totally agree [with Emily]. It’s my choice, my body.’
She added that when she decided to become a glamour model, it was a career choice and not about wanting male attention.
‘I have no problem with your career choice,’ Piers countered. ‘My only problem is the way people like Emily and Kim Kardashian post this stuff to millions of impressionable young women and they don’t just say ‘don’t I look hot’, they say ‘I’m doing this to empower women’.
‘What Emily is doing is using this in the name of feminism. Don’t use the excuse it’s feminism because it’s not.’
Nicola argued that she didn’t find the images sexy, and that ‘It is not about how a man interprets it, it’s about how you’re treated because you choose to do it.’
She added that women shouldn’t be sexually intimidated because of the way they look.
Susanna added that she felt Emily was being deliberately provocative, but also agreed that ‘she is saying she’s in charge and nobody else is.’
Piers said Emily’s stunt does nothing to help women.
‘It does help women,’ Nicola insisted. ‘It’s her voice. Would we be talking about this if she was saying this statement in a suit?’
‘I don’t mind her getting her kit off, I have a problem when she does it and calls it female empowerment,’ Piers reiterated.
The debate became so heated, the segment was cut off as the show moved to the competition.
It sparked a debate on Twitter as to Emily’s motivation behind the post, and it seemed to be very divisive.
Many agreed with Piers that the video did not stand for feminism at all:
No empowering but enhancing idea of woman as sexual object #GMB
— Carole (@carolelhww) December 6, 2017
#gmb making a highly sexualized video and demanding men don't look is not feminism its cashing in on sexualizing yourself to 4 money.
— JahaanTweets (@JahaanTweets) December 6, 2017
Also, instead of rolling about half naked in spaghetti, how about you do some real things to help women, such as helping close the gender pay gap, saving women & girls forced into marriages, FGM, the list is endless. Instead no, you choose to further yourself #gmb@gmb
— JayBird (@LycanEclipse) December 6, 2017
While others agreed with Nicola that Emily was using the footage to make a statement:
The fact that Piers Morgan thinks he's entitled to say what is right for a woman to do and what isn't, when it is HER choice, is exactly why we need feminism #GMB
— Not What Women Want (@NotWhatWeWant) December 6, 2017
I'm not entirely sure how being sexually provocative in your underwear whilst eating spaghetti is "empowering women" or anything to do with feminism… But hey…its her life & her choice, who are we to judge on what she thinks is right or wrong #gmb@GMB@piersmorgan
— Iancredible ♔ (@iancredible12) December 6, 2017
It’s empowering in the sense that men like Piers, as he affirms, feel women should be quiet and modest and only sexual in certain ways (on his terms). But we can do what we want! As Emily does! And THAT is feminism! #GMB
— Morgane le Fay☾ (@morgancrawf) December 6, 2017
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