Emily Ratajkowski addresses sexist double standards in 'Glamour' essay

When Emily Ratajkowski hit the Feb. 8 Bernie Sanders rally at the University of New Hampshire, there were no Blurred Lines about which candidate had her support.

On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, the entertainer and activist — who broke out following a starring role in Robin Thicke's 2013 Blurred Lines video — touted the strengths of Sanders, homing in on the presidential hopeful's stance on equal pay, maternity leave and economic inequality.

"They wrote me off as 'a desperate attention whore,'" Ratajkowski tells Glamour.

Of course, these gender-based attacks are nothing new, as the model-actress explains in an essay for the magazine. "As women we are accused of seeking attention more than men are, whether for speaking out politically, as I did, for dressing a certain way, or for even posting a selfie," she writes. "Our culture has a double standard that runs so deep, many women have actually built up an automatic defense — attempting to be a step ahead of potential critics by making sure we have 'real' reasons for anything we say or do."

Ratajkowski goes on to argue that many women have internalized this double standard and have bought into the reductionist view that "tells women we can’t be, say, sexy and confident and opinionated about politics." And at every turn, she adds, "society asks us to declare and defend our motivations," which fuels everything from the sexist, ageist pushback to celebrities like Madonna to the victim-blaming culture that indicts everyday women for the violent acts committed against them.

Ratajkowski points to a recent tragedy as an example. "In August a young woman, Karina Vetrano, was raped and murdered while on a jog in Queens, New York," she writes. "The New York Daily News published an article about 'the brainy and beautiful victim,' including a selfie of Vetrano from her Instagram."

She continued: "One commenter said, 'Poor girl yes. But she put herself out there like a Kardashian carbon copy.' Later he added, 'If you’re going to be out there, be prepared for the attention, good and bad.' This is how far the attention accusation can go: It validates the idea that this woman’s actions — wearing makeup, posting selfies — might have contributed to her senseless murder. Would you have seen the same type of comment had the victim been male? Doubtful. Women should be allowed to be themselves and live the way they want to, just as Vetrano did."

Read Ratajkowski's essay in full here.