In 2016, there are plenty of writers who still objectify female stars and pass it off as journalism. But in 2016, these writers are going to get called out.
Case in point: Rich Cohen wrote a bizarre profile of Margot Robbie for Vanity Fair, and the piece has quickly drawn backlash.
The piece is the cover story for Vanity Fair's August issue, and it is currently available online.
"She is 26 and beautiful, not in that otherworldly, catwalk way but in a minor knock-around key, a blue mood, a slow dance", writes Cohen.
"She is tall but only with the help of certain shoes. She can be sexy and composed even while naked but only in character. As I said, she is from Australia. To understand her, you should think about what that means. Australia is America 50 years ago, sunny and slow, a throwback, which is why you go there for throwback people. They still live and die with the plot turns of soap operas in Melbourne and Perth".
These comments, of course, are extremely objectifying, seem condescending at best to Australia, and are just plain odd.
Margot Robbie herself seems weirded out as anyone by the article.
"I remember thinking, 'That was a really odd interview. I don’t know how that’s going to come out'", she says. "And then when I read it I was like, 'Yeah, the tone of this is really weird'. Like, I don’t really know what he’s trying to get at or play at".
Sadly, Robbie "didn’t expect there to be like an uproar about it at all", as she's read "far more offensive, far more sexist, insulting, derogatory, disgusting things on a daily basis".
It's time to stop oversexualising female performers; let's do better.