Offended by this? You haven’t been to a beach lately
It may look more like dental floss than an outfit, but if you’re clutching your pearls at Emily Ratajkowski’s bikini, don’t even think about going to a beach this summer, writes Jessica Ridley.
Picture the netting around a pork loin from the butcher.
You know, the material that holds all that meat in shape while it roasts in the oven?
That’s exactly what I would look like wearing Emily Rata-What’s-Her-Name’s bikini. All that string cutting into my wobbly bits, for the fat asking price of 200 bucks.
Self-awareness is the single greatest asset a woman can have when it comes to her wardrobe. It helps to know what to flaunt — and what to cover up.
I can guarantee this swimwear — which could easily be mistaken for dental floss — would be far from flattering on 99 per cent of the female population.
Not to mention uncomfortable. Emily looks like she has a dual wedgie — back AND front.
But love it or hate it — or don’t care — there’s one thing we can agree on.
Mrs Ratajkowski — yes, she’s married — has an amazing physique.
She’s also not afraid of flaunting every inch of it. Her big break was dancing completely starkers in singer Robin Thicke’s one-hit wonder ‘Blurred Lines’.
A phrase that’s relevant in relation to her new swimwear range. Particularly the panty line.
Having been raised quite conservatively, one can safely assume my mother and grandmother would have had heart palpitations seeing this splashed across the front page of the paper.
It’s the water-cooler topic of the last 24 hours. I’ve heard the words ‘disgusting’, ‘immoral’ and ‘vulgar’ bandied around by older women. One even suggested it could be considered indecent exposure.
Even men who worship Emily’s body think it’s a bit too much for the beach and better suited to a more unsavoury kind of venue, if you catch my drift.
But am I personally offended by her hardly-there bathers? No.
That’s probably because I’m in the same Instagram generation as the 27-year-old model. We’ve become so numb to consuming images like this on a daily basis. The shock factor just isn’t there anymore.
And have you been to the beach lately? Prepare to cop an eyeful — and not just from Emrata. The Brazilian cuts are getting higher and deeper every summer.
Bikini tops are optional too — not just on nude beaches.
Let’s remember there was a time way back when the one-piece bather suit was considered risqué.
Grandma would have been 10 when the world’s first bikini was introduced in 1946.
The difference between then and now is that Grandma wasn’t exposed to it as quickly as young girls are today with social media.
That is a genuine concern held by many parents of young girls, looking to celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski for the latest trends — and believing they are the epitome of sexy.
Some would say swimwear boundaries have been pushed to the point of lacking any imagination — or fabric for that matter.
The empowering point to finish on is that we have the freedom of choice in this country.
If Em Rata chooses to flash her goods, it’s not going to ruin my day at the beach. I can choose to stop following her on Instagram.
Jessica Ridley is a news reporter for Seven News and Sunrise.
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