In the midst of yet another chaotic news cycle, Olivia Munn has written a short essay on one of the most important issues currently plaguing civilization: fashion critics calling out bad outfits. The actress denounced Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan of the tongue-in-cheek blog, Go Fug Yourself, for their reviews of celebrity red carpet looks. But the essay that was meant to take a powerful stand quickly turned into a problematic take.
In her piece, Munn references the Fug Girls’ criticism of her outfit—a Peter Pilotto pantsuit—at the Apex for Youth awards, which they described as "like she got roped into making a sequel to American Hustle that ended up going straight to on-demand." Munn condemns Cocks and Morgan for “snarkiness” and “hypocrisy,” claiming their work is “playing a part in the suppression of women.” It should be noted that being snarky and actively suppressing women are two very different things.
Criticizing an outfit is not the same as criticizing the person wearing it. Making a joke about a woman's outfit is not an attack on her character, ideas, or her work. You can be a good person and still wear a bad dress. It is not sexist (Go Fug Yourself also reviews men's fashion) and truthfully, it is not that serious. We're talking about clothing that costs thousands of dollars here! It's just fashun, it's okay to laugh.
Still, mostly thanks to the 2016 presidential election, the media has undergone a reckoning of sorts around the toxic and often sexist rhetoric used to describe women. Since then, small steps of progress have been made. Using the words "plus-size" to describe a woman's body is no longer acceptable, and attacking women based on their looks is not a valid form of criticism, whether you're talking about a politician, a celebrity, or a model. But the concept of railing against criticism of one's fashion choices is, however, arguably quite Trumpian.
During a week when several celebrities, including Lizzo and Ariana Grande, are attacking critics for honest album reviews, it's especially important to remember that no one's art—whether music or fashion—should be put on a pedestal and immune from criticism. Fashion, like music, painting, and film, is a form of art. Critics provide deeper insight and analysis, along with cultural connections, to a piece of art—and have been since the dawn of the written word. It's especially important to sustain and advocate for fashion criticism, as fashion is an industry innately responsive to cultural events and the current state of the world.
Not only is it boring to pretend everyone looks wonderful and amazing on the red carpet, but Munn's statement sets a precedent for not critiquing people, ever. These are wealthy celebrities wearing designer clothing at public events; the folks at home reviewing their outfit choices isn't what's holding back the feminist movement. Of all the things happening in the world, please let us at least make a joke about your crazy designer dress as a form of entertainment.
What's more is that Munn went as far to compare the Fug Girls' fashion reviews to that of teenage boys who were caught objectifying girls by ranking them with a "point system." Comparing celebrities wearing designer clothing selected by their stylists to teenage boys sexually objectifying girls is not only inaccurate, but offensive and dangerous. It completely undermines the severity of rape culture; victims of sexual assault should not be compared to victims of red carpet reviews.
It should also be noted that Cocks and Morgan, who have been running their blog since the early 2000s, make a point to never body-shame women or comment on a woman's appearance (which is something that's not okay when critiquing fashion). To Munn's credit, however, there are several large-scale tabloids and websites that critique celebrity fashion in the toxic ways she suggests, but here, Munn opted to target a smaller-scale website—a skewed power imbalance that the likes of Tom and Lorenzo called "irresponsible" in a tweet explaining: "This appears to be the week celebrities with enormous social media followings punch down and single out their critics for harassment. Let's not be coy. Olivia Munn knows exactly what kind of week the @FugGirls are going to have thanks to this."
In the past, Munn has used her voice and platform to advocate for important issues such as equal pay and sexual harassment as part of the Time's Up movement in Hollywood. Trying to stop fashion critics from reviewing her red carpet outfits is not an inspiring or worthy cause to add to the list.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/designers/a27272599/olivia-munn-fug-girls-letter-explained/
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