Spaghetti Feminism Sounds Great, But Can It Not Be This?

In a capitalist society, even the fight for social justice and equality can be hijacked by people wanting to make a quick buck by stealing art or splashing a progressive slogan on a Forever 21 t-shirt made by exploited workers in squalid conditions.

I'm sad to report that today, spaghetti is the latest victim of one such scheme.

Model and swimsuit designer Emily Ratajkowski did a photoshoot with LOVE Magazine where she's writhing around on a table of spaghetti and massaging the noodles all over her pricey lingerie-clad body (while inexplicably wearing mittens).

In the photo caption, Ratajkowski explains that it's her body and she can roll in spaghetti or get naked on the 'gram if she wants to—hell yes to that. But the model doesn't actually eat the spaghetti, and the mittens are just really distracting to me. No one eats spaghetti with mittens. You're getting fuzzy bits all in the pasta.

While Ratajkowski is all "this is my feminism," and that is her right, it looks more like a lingerie ad to me. I'm not trying to police women here, but to me this looks like another faux-feminist attempt to sell underwear, and not really saying anything about empowerment. Or spaghetti for that matter.

Also, the concept itself is not unique. Director Chris Applebaum has been creating similar videos on his eats.channel Instagram account for years. It also has one of those "this is female empowerment" vibes that I'm side-eyeing but whatever. At least there is some pasta eating happening here:

Also, this is not the first time Ratajkowski has been accused of cribbing someone else's "art." Swimsuits in Ratajkowski "Inamorata" line were allegedly knockoffs of designer Lisa Marie Fernandez's designs. Unfortunately for Fernandez, there are no copyright protections for clothing in the U.S.

Anyway, spaghetti feminism is something I'd like to be a part of. But maybe this isn't what it should look like. I'm thinking it should look more like this: