Eilish, a well-known American artist and feminist, has been labelled as ‘selling out’ after her photoshoot with Vogue. The singer’s iconic look of baggy trousers and top meant no one ever saw her in tight revealing clothes. Especially as when she first went into the limelight, she vowed to the public she would not show her body, which has been held against her in headlines such as “Proof that money can make you change your values and sell out. Billie Eilish shocks fans by swapping baggy clothes for lingerie in Vogue – despite years of vowing to ‘hide body’”.

First a foremost, it seems as though ‘shocked fans’ have forgotten she was 14 years old when she stepped into the public’s eye, so exposing her body would have been an even bigger outrage by being sexualised as a child than a consenting 20-year-old adult modelling in lingerie. Clothing preferences and style should be afforded to females with no pre-determined boundaries. The notion that a woman is classified a ‘slut’ because of her outfit is outdated and against modern feminist principles.

Further to this, you cannot exile or undermine a women’s rights activist due to the length of their hem or the sweep of their cleavage. Feminism empowers women to be confident in their choices, clothing or otherwise, and reminds them that they do not need to present themselves in a manner that will appease anyone. As well as this, Billie Eilish has also exercised her right to change her mind. She once said she would hide her body, when she was a child and now presently, she wants to reclaim autonomy over her own body.

An interesting phenomenon is the in-situ belittling between two females. It is commonly observed that the greatest ‘slut-shamers’, in media or online frenzy, are females themselves, which is relevant in this situation as Laura Fox from Mail Online is the one who wrote the article criticising Eilish. Although these women may fall under different social groupings or have contradicting belief systems, they all believe that the female body should not be sexualised and that those who do embrace their femininity should be rebuked. Women should be using their time to support fellow woman as they should empathise with the amount judgment and criticism women already receive on the way they dress.

Any woman can be hot, sexy, scantily clad, or totally indifferent to their appearance. Their personal preferences should never be held against them or labelled negatively.