This Actress Just Slammed Paparazzi For Intentionally Taking Photos Up Her Skirt
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In a follow-up tweet, Natalie posted a longer statement about the situation. “When I was sent the photos my first instinct was to ignore them and move on,” she explained. “But then I realized this must happen to women all the time, and this time, I am not going to let it slide. I am not going to let that photographer or the people that buy their pictures continue to believe that it’s ok. It’s not ok.” She emphasized that she was not ashamed of her body, but rather angry that someone felt they could take pictures of her—or any woman—without her permission. “Its a vagina. We all came out of one,” she wrote. “But it doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to me. And you can’t have it unless I say you can.”
Before this gets watered down or the word “vagina” gets censored out, here’s my statement on this “wardrobe malfunction” b.s. pic.twitter.com/nE6CNAsovB
— Natalie Morales (@nataliemorales) September 27, 2017
Fans quickly shared their support for her message:
Wardrobe malfunction? No. Basic human decency malfunction. I stand with you.
— Justin Sexton (@tediouslength) September 27, 2017
“And you can’t have it unless I say you can” #NotOkay pic.twitter.com/sXdRbdyWZ8
— #25thAmendmentNow (@MeeestarCoke) September 27, 2017
Well said. You have nothing to be ashamed of. #respect
— Sandra K Eckersley (@SandraEckersley) September 27, 2017
Sadly, Natalie is not the only celebrity who has encountered inappropriate, harassing photographers and paparazzi. Emma Watson spoke about one of her own experiences having invasive photographs taken and published. “I remember on my 18th birthday I came out of my birthday party and photographers laid down on the pavement and took photographs up my skirt,” she said in 2016, according to the Huffington Post. “If they had published the photographs 24 hours earlier, they would have been illegal.” Back in 2015, model Cara Delevingne tweeted about a photographer who tried to take photographs up her skirt, too.
Sexist BS stressing you out? We don’t blame you. Try this relaxing yoga pose:
While taking these types of photos without a woman’s consent certainly sounds like a crime, the reality is a bit more complicated. In a piece for TIME, Stop Street Harassment founder Holly Kearl explained how state voyeurism laws vary. For example, a court in Georgia ruled in 2016 that “upskirt” photos and videos aren’t illegal, while in Virginia, it’s illegal to take pictures or videos “of the person’s intimate parts or undergarments covering those intimate parts when the intimate parts or undergarments would not otherwise be visible to the general public.”
As Natalie explained in her statement, the issue isn’t about celebrities—it’s about sexualizing and shaming women in general. She, for one, refuses to apologize for simply “existing as a human being” who happens to have a vagina. Bravo to that.