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On January 25, British model and actress Elizabeth Hurley posted a photo on her Instagram (as we do) and somehow she has ignited an internet firestorm. The picture was taken in the yard of her home (as she has been following stay at home orders) and depicts her in a white bikini bottom and faux fur coat standing in the snow with the caption, “How could I resist?” Most of her followers were into it, commenting how amazing she looks and using lots of fire emojis, but we are not here to talk about the positive comments. Oh no, we are here to talk about the outpouring of hate.
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Liz looks amazing, she’s super fit (those abs!!) and has always been very vocal about her regimen of drinking lots of water and eating local, organic foods. And clearly whatever she is doing is working. And the photo, while borderline risqué, is definitely not any more scandalous than ones posted by many other celebrities every day. Liz often posts photos in bikinis and the like, she owns a swimwear line after all. So what is the problem?
Basically the day following the photo being posted, Piers Morgan went live on Good Morning Britain and called Liz “creepy” and “thirsty.” He also claimed her teenage son had taken the photo which he found even more creepy and he ended his rant with, “You’re 55, put your clothes on.”
Liz responded, but only to clarify that her 18-year old son Damian had not taken the photo. It was actually taken by her 80 year old mother. But does it matter who took the picture? That is not the issue here in my opinion — the issue is blatant ageism.
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A lot of people slammed Piers for his statement, but many backed him up. His co-presenter on Good Morning Britain compared the situation to the online hate Davina McCall had recently received from an appearance on The Masked Singer over her choice of dress. People wrote online that she, at 53, was “too wrinkly” to wear something so revealing. One Masked Singer fan had tweeted, “Old over-sun-kissed woman should cover up…stunning dress but not for the wrinkly crinkly…demure for the mature.”
So, let me get this straight — at a certain age, women are supposed to just stop feeling pretty or sexy and cover our bodies head to toe so as to not offend others? We should just sit in our rocking chairs with an afghan over our legs? Has anyone told J.Lo? Because she and Shakira rocked last year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. Of course, mostly what people were talking about afterwards were their ages (50 and 43 at the time). There were over 1,300 complaints called in, by the way.
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Who decides what the magic age is when we need to cover our bodies? And why do they get to decide? Why does body positivity not include the over 40 ladies? Have we not evolved past the caveman idea that only young, fertile women are to be desired? Who cares if anyone else is finding us attractive, is it not enough that we feel great in whatever we are wearing?
I’ll get off my soapbox now and go back to my rocking chair and my knitting and Murder She Wrote, but first let me leave you with this: wear whatever you damn well want, whatever makes YOU feel good. Grow old gracefully or not. Cover up or don’t. Other people’s opinions don’t deserve space in your head — it’s always more about them and their personal issues than it is about you. Wear thigh slits, sequins, bikinis — shake your ass…whatever you want.
Do you agree that the photo of Elizabeth Hurley topless shouldn’t have gotten such an outpouring of hate? Let us know in the comments!
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