Image from the 2010 film Tomorrow, When The War Began
Shame on Australia-based Good Weekend magazine.
Actress Caitlin Stasey (of Reign and Neighbours fame) was asked to pose nearly nude for the magazine. She declined, and the magazine mysteriously pulled her feature. (Hey Scooby and gang, are you guys free to crack this oh-so-convoluted case?)
“Good Weekend magazine suddenly doesn't have the space to run a piece on me because I wouldn’t do a shoot in my underwear @theage @smh,” Stasey revealed in a number of tweets (see below). “I declined. And miraculously, conveniently after I said I wouldn’t do it, they claimed the magazine was downsized and there was no space to run the piece.”
Originally, the magazine wanted to run an interview about Stasey’s frustration with the constant objectification of women. The sexualized photo shoot was intended to complement the piece. Because, hey, why discuss the perils of objectifying women without a bunch of sexy pics on the side? That would prove her point, right?
It was this discrepancy of messages, not the concept of nudity itself, that bothered Stasey.
"Nudity is not inherently sexual, it isn’t shameful, and doesn’t even need to be powerful," she said in an interview with Huffington Post. "But what was asked of me was highly stylized, highly sexualized imagery of me in panties, orchestrated by a man who never asked my permission, and then disregarded my request to have the photos they would be taking of me, actually reflect me.”
Good Weekend editor Ben Naparstek claimed that Stasey was OK with nudity. Stasey rebutted by sharing email threads to prove that wasn’t the case.
As an advocate against the objectification of women, Stasey founded a website called herself.com that inspires women to reclaim their bodies in non-sexualized nude photographs.
"While no woman should ever have to justify her desire to stay clothed, it’s imperative that we recognize the distinction between empowerment and objectification," said Stasey. "Empowerment is when the subject is in control of the situation/imagery, and objectification is when the subject is coerced or exploited to fuel someone else's means."
As writers and editors ourselves, we can't help but question the credibility of Naparstek. You got burned boy, and it was your own doing.
You go, Caitlin Stasey!
.@AlleMcMahon @abcnews here is a full run down of events. pic.twitter.com/6IFPaGkwJd
— caitlin stasey (@caitlinstasey) July 16, 2015
