Social media is a powerful device, so it’s really no wonder so many people assume Amber Rose and the concept of the word ‘slut’ are inextricably linked seeing as this is how she is typically represented on sites such as Twitter and Instagram. Yet as a women’s rights activist, Amber is more than that. To me, her relentless campaigning over the last few years shows that she uses her role as a public figure pretty well to provide a platform for genuine concerns to be expressed about the way women are treated today.
But, there’s been far too many occasions where Amber has been absolutely annihilated in the media for her openness about sex and simply for the fact she worked as a stripper to provide for her family at one point in her life. This seems like such an irrelevant issue to me, after all, why do we even care how someone makes money as long as they’re doing it legitimately and not hurting anyone in the process? So why is it that a grown woman is shamed for making money? Why is it that a mother is embarrassed for having a healthy sex life? And why is it that a human being is continuously dragged for having a clear idea of their own sexuality?
What this trend of humiliation seems to represent then is something larger than an opinion of Amber Rose, but more that there is still a huge issue with the topic of women’s sexuality in our society. When a woman voluntarily celebrates her sexuality, she’s answered with insults and abuse. But somehow when details of a woman’s private and intimate experiences are non-consensually publicised (e.g. leaking nudes or sex tapes), society responds by encouraging and justifying them.
There is a double standard in this respect. It suggests that there must remain a sense of modesty about a woman’s sexuality, an idea that she’s allowed to be sexy but only when she doesn’t explicitly tell the world that she is.
And this is why Amber Rose is such a controversial figure. She is sexy, and she makes a conscious effort to make sure that everyone knows this. And why shouldn’t she have the right to do that without expecting some sort of degradation of her character? Amber defies a social standard that women should behave coyly on the subject of their sexuality. Not only this but she proves that she can be so much more than an object of desire. She acts as an illustration that sexuality and character substance are not a dichotomy by any means.
Jael Moore 