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Sentences painted with feminist undertones slashed through the paper.
I would quote it for you, but it has since been retracted.
It wasn't the empowering sort of feminism that makes you want to stand tall and change the world though, it was the judgmental kind that leaves you rolling your eyes. The article was trying to defend my rights, without me needing to be defended.
I felt as though it took what was intended to be free spirited fun, and morphed it into an argument of sexism.
The worst part?:
It wasn't written by an agitated female... it was written by a male. This ruffled my feathers even further, as the article hinted towards a world where men are not to be blamed for their response to the female form. It depicted a world where women in bikinis were somehow less intelligent, and though this may not have been the intention, it was the result.
Momentarily embarrassed by the negative spew, I quickly realized that I disagreed with what was being portrayed, and there was no need to allow the opinions of others to falter what I stood for. I pulled out my cell phone and gave the head of the fashion show a ring - I figured she could use the heads up.
WELL...If you thought that I was annoyed, this girl boss was furiously marching through the university grounds before I could hang up the line.
"What could I do to help.... What could I do to help?"
After all, this negative press portrays not only the models in a negative light, but the companies involved as well.
"What could I do to..."
An open dialogue!
This is something that I strongly believe in. It was A'murica after all! Freedom of speech, am I right? There is always t̶w̶o̶ three sides to every story, and I was not willing to be spoken for.
By the following week there was a new heading in the paper, and it read:
You see, I don't believe in a world where we all agree, but I do believe in a world where we try to understand one another. My article sparked a thread of e-mails between myself and the writer of "Midnight Misogyny," as we tried to understand one another. He was in fact very kind, polite and apologetic when he saw the scenario through my lens.
I find it incredibly beautiful when we can use words to cure anger rather than fuel a fire.
Dialogue was not the only thing that sparked through this situation, but here birthed the friendship between myself and the Sand&Surf Co. family.
"We have a shoot coming up ... Billabong, Maaji, Roxy... some really great brands. You interested in modeling?"
To be continued...
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