(Emily Ratajkowski with her book My Body via her Instagram)
Emily Ratajkowski, better known as Emrata, is an actor, activist, entrepreneur, writer, and model. Ratajkowski is most known for her modeling career, catapulted into fame after appearing in musician Robin Thicke's music video Blurred Lines. However, if you were to ask the internet, Ratajkowski is mainly seen only as a sex symbol and widely considered a bimbo (due to the provocative photos taken of her at shoots and pictures she posts on her Instagram). In the introduction of her book titled "My Body," Ratajkowski admits that sharing her body online has rewarded her. "I built a platform by sharing images of myself and my body online, making my body, and subsequently, my name recognizable." (Ratajkowski, 2021, pp. 5-6) On the flip side, Ratajkowski has often felt objectified and limited by her position in the world by being called a sex symbol. "Whatever influence and status I've gained were only granted to me because I appeal to men." (Ratajkowski, 2021, p. 6)
Before the release of her book, Ratajkowski published one of the essays from her book in the New York Magazine titled "Buying Myself Back." Ratajkowski discusses the struggle she faces to "own" her image. At the beginning of the essay, Ratajkowski finds out she is being sued because she posted a photo of herself on her Instagram that the paparazzi had taken. Even though Ratajkowski was the subject of the photograph, she could not control what happened to it and sued her for $150,000 worth of damages for the "use" of her image.
"I have learned that my image, my reflection, is not my own." (Ratajkowski, 2021, p. 155)
Throughout the rest of the essay, the quote is apparent as she lists the other times her image has not been her own. The first was when an artist, Richard Prince, released a gallery show titled "Richard Prince's "Instagram Paintings." Ratajkowski says the "paintings" were just Instagram photos with the artist's comment on the photo blown up on a large canvas. Ratajkowski says, "Everyone, especially my boyfriend, made me feel like I should be honored to have been included in the series. Richard Prince is an important artist, and the implication was that I should feel grateful to him for deeming my image worthy of a painting." (Ratajkowski 2021, p. 156).
Ratajkowski says that even though she was honored, it shocked her that an artist could snatch up one of her Instagram posts and sell it as his own. The paintings the artist posted cost $80,000 a piece, and Ratajkowski's boyfriend wanted to buy hers. While Ratajkowski was flattered that her boyfriend wanted to purchase the piece, Ratajkowski says she did not have the same urge to own the photo as her boyfriend. "It seemed strange to me that he or I should have to buy back a picture of myself — especially one I had posted on Instagram, which up until then had felt like the only place where I could control how I present myself to the world, a shrine to my autonomy. If I wanted to see that picture every day, I could just look at my own grid." (Ratajkowski, 2021, p. 156-157).
Ratajkowski then found out the artist had another Instagram painting of her, which was a photo from one of her first Sports Illustrated shoots, "When I realized we had the opportunity to procure this one, it suddenly felt important to me that I own at least half of it." (Ratajkowski, 2021, p. 158). Ratajkowski split the cost of the painting in half with her boyfriend. She then realized other subjects of the Instagram paintings were receiving "studies" or smaller drafts of the final works. "My boyfriend asked the studio, and some months later, a 24-inch mounted black-and-white "study" arrived. It was a different shot than the large piece we had purchased, but I still felt victorious." (Ratajkowski, 2021, p. 158).
(Emily Ratajkowski with her Instagram painting via her Instagram)
When Ratajkowski and her boyfriend eventually broke up, she received the painting from her ex, only after he demanded Ratajkowski pay him $10,000 for the piece for his "knowledge of the art market." Ratajkowski wound up paying him the money and now owns the painting and has it hung in her home. While Ratajkowski has "bought herself back," she says, "All these men, some of whom I knew intimately and others I'd never met, were debating who owned an image of me." (Ratajkowski, 2021, p. 159)
Do you agree or disagree with Ratajkowski on the right to own your own image?
Resources:
Ratajkowski, E. (2021). My body. Holt & Company, Henry.
Ratajkowski, E. (n.d.). Emily Ratajkowski’s Instagram. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/emrata/?hl=en
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