EDITORIAL Herself.com deserves a feminist’s respect

By Sophie Trigger

As did many young Australian girls, I looked up to the female characters brought to the screen by Caitlin Stasey, notably Neighbours’ Rachel Kinski and The Tomorrow Series’ heroine Ellie Linton. Recently, however, Stasey has stepped out of her clothes and into her most influential role yet: there was no acting involved.
Feminist website herself.com has been splashed across social media ever since it emerged, causing contention, debate and praise. It’s easy to see why. Herself.com features photo-shoots with nine unclothed woman of all shapes, sizes, colours and sexualities. The shots are accompanied by sincere and straightforward interviews outlining the women’s opinions on everything from body image, abortion to masturbation.  And the girls’ views differ nearly as much as their bodies.
Stasey’s self interview reveals views for which she will undoubtedly receive criticism. She scathingly describes marriage in a way that will surely horrify some people, as  ‘an archaic institution’, which ‘drives the women who feel compelled to participate to madness.’ Similarly she dubs monogamy as ‘pointless, painful and archaic.’
You may not agree with Stasey’s views. Indeed, thousands of feminists are monogamous, married and religious. But we all – men, women, feminist and … otherwise – have something important to take away from such candid feminism.
What Stasey has reiterated for me is that a huge part of feminism is having this very choice. In our society, women have the right to choose what values they will believe in, and to express them without criticism. We have the right to oppose the status quo.
Millions of women all over the world are not extended this privilege. One only has to look at womens’ education statistics overseas: in Iraq, for instance, the World Bank recorded that for every 100 boys out of school, there are 316 girls. And Al Jazeera recently reported that an Indian woman dies every hour over a dowry-related dispute.
We are utterly blessed to live in a part of the world where women have the right to choose and girls are educated. For many, the choice is lifelong marriage and motherhood, and for others, an education and career. For some, empowerment is found in having the confidence and self-respect to ‘bare all’ for a photo-shoot.
Let’s not knock fellow feminist Caitlin Stasey for simply doing what she wants and saying what she thinks, its a brave act to bare all on social media.
As she herself concludes ‘It comes at a greater cost to you to attack the women around you than it does to empower them.’
Love her or hate her, herself.com has proven Stasey to be unapologetically and infectiously herself. That should be a win for all women, men and Neighbours fans alike.