Here is the message miss #AmberRose got for the haters! ( F@ck yo opinions i do what I want period) pic.twitter.com/HqzqzSjTA6
— rapper fix (@fix_rapper) June 26, 2017
I know the phrase “break the internet” is overused. But when Amber Rose posted that photo of herself all oiled up, showcasing her pubic hair, she created quite the stir. And she had Instagram scrambling to scrub the image from their site.
In a recent interview with Refinery 29, Rose explained the reason she posted the picture in the first place, knowing it would be deleted.
Refinery starts the story saying Amber photoshopped the image, but not for the reasons you might think.
“I had them Photoshop out my tattoos to focus on the bush alone. I feel like as women, we always feel like we need to shave or wax — and if we don’t, then we’re considered unkempt or unclean or we’re gonna smell funny. I believe that it’s natural and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”
But in addition to focusing on the bush, the post was also in promotion of her annual Slut Walk. It’s a conference and march to end sexual violence, gender inequality and rape culture.
“People are very uncomfortable with the female body. It’s ok to leak images onto the Internet and people are like, ‘Yeah, that’s so cool.’ But if you actually do it yourself and in a way that’s owning your own sexuality, it’s almost taboo.”
“I wanted to prove a point, and of course arguing with Piers Morgan, who is such a dick… That’s why I kept going back and forth with him,” says Rose. “I posted a picture of Adam Levine with a woman grabbing his dick and balls, and Piers was like, ‘You know that’s different because that was for testicular cancer — so that’s okay.'” Of course, Rose pointed out that she was also posting her photo for an important cause, but it didn’t change his mind. “Men feel like they can do whatever, and show their bodies off constantly, but we can’t — that’s bullshit,” says Rose.
There were those who wondered about her grooming techniques.
I didn’t really do anything crazy to groom it. I just used some soap and some lotion. In that picture, it was just not fully wild and grown out at that time. When I finish getting washed in the shower, I use baby oil gel all over my body [including my bush].”
But Rose wanted to be clear that her feminism doesn’t reside in her pubic hair.
I go back and forth — it really depends on my mood and how I feel,” she says. “I was a dancer, so I [used to] shave every day. If you shave every single day, you won’t get razor bumps or anything like that. But that was my job. I pretty much had to because it was how I was making money.”
Also, worth noting, to those who were upset by the post, know that that was Amber’s intention.
“I go far and beyond to piss people off on purpose,” Rose says. “That’s what I do to bring awareness to Slutwalk and what’s going on. The fact that there are double standards, that women are not allowed to own their sexuality and their bodies. We can’t possibly be sexually confident, because then we’re whores. We’re not allowed to have a past. We’re incapable of love if we’re too beautiful or if we’re too successful. It’s all really, really f*cked up.”
And it’s more important to call it out today than ever. “I feel like there are so many new feminists this year because of Trump,” Rose says. “There are a lot of people who suffer from [sexual violence] who didn’t even know what it was. That’s why I just keep pushing because I see it every day. I love women and I just want to help and keep fighting the fight for feminism.”
The post Amber Rose Explains Why She Posted That Picture Of Her Bush On Instagram appeared first on MadameNoire.