Victoria’s Secret Model Pens Open Letter About Sexting And Slut-Shaming
Victoria’s Secret Model Leomie Anderson has taken to her blog to pen an open letter to her younger fans [Photo: Instagram/leomieanderson]
Many models use social media to document their jetset life, sharing intimate details of their wardrobe, diet and exercise regime. And though there’s definitely a dollop of that on Leomie Anderson’s blog, the Victoria’s Secret model has used her most recent post as a platform to advise her younger fans about the issue of consent.
Having seen endless headlines about slut-shaming, sexual assault and leaked nude pictures, the 23-year-old British model took to her blog, Cracked China Cup to pen an essay reminding young women that they have the power to say “no”.
In a blog post titled, “An Open Letter About Consent and Saying No“, Leomie addresses the reality that some of her young readers feel pressured to take, then share naked photos. "With the uncontrollable rise of social media and mixed messages that young people are exposed to more and more young girls are falling victim to being pressured to do things and having their most intimate moments shared on the Internet,” she writes.
The post aims to empower young women into feeling able to say no to sharing naked pictures [Photo: Instagram/leomieanderson]
Leomie, who has more than 48,000 Instagram followers, explained that sharing her own image goes hand in hand with being a model, but that if there was anything she felt uncomfortable with she could tell her agency and they would deal with it on her behalf. “When you’re at school you don’t have that,” she wrote.
“You feel like you’re grown enough to deal with everything from experimenting with your makeup to experimenting with boys, but the latter can be a lot trickier with much more devastating effects.”
The model wants her fans to know they have the power to say “No” to anything they’re not comfortable with [Photo: Instagram/leomieanderson]
Though the model admits that the subject area isn’t her usual topic of discussion she had chosen to speak out because she feels it’s such an important issue to tackle.
She went on to say that she knew “so many girls” who’d felt pressure to send explicit pictures and messages to boys. “It’s a decision that takes a second to agree to, but also a second to be shared with others who you haven’t given consent to,” she wrote.
“Sometimes you believe you can trust someone with private images and videos, but you should ask yourself, ‘Why does he need this in his possession?‘”
Leomie has spoken out about other issues in the past like the lack of beauty products available to models with black skin [Photo: Instagram/leomieanderson]
Keen to explain that she didn’t want to tell her young fans what to do, but to urge them to be comfortable with their personal decisions and not to feel pressured into doing things because someone else has asked them to.
“I just want you to know that you do have the option to say NO,” she wrote. “Saying NO doesn’t make you scared or frigid. It makes you smart and mature. You never want someone to be able to hold something against you or expose you. So please, know that you don’t have to do anything that you aren’t fully comfortable with and that your NO means something.”
This isn’t the first time Leomie has spoken out about something she feels strongly about. Earlier this year, she took to social media to voice her upset that some NYFW make-up artists weren’t able to cater for the needs of those with darker skin tones.
Looks like the modelling industry just found itself a new spokeswoman. Go girl!
What do you think about Leomie’s message? Let us know @YahooStyleUK
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