She’s an actress, feminist and #freethenipple supporter, but to us, Caitlin Stasey is also a body positive icon.
The 27-year-old, known in Australia for her roles on Neighbours, Reign and (most importantly) The Sleepover Club, is passionate about female empowerment.
Two years ago, she launched Herself, a body positive feminist website that shows “the female form in all its honesty without the burden of the male gaze, without the burden of appealing to anyone.”
The interview are accompanied by nude photographs and feature a diverse group of women with different body types.
Practicing what she preaches, Stasey has shared naked photos herself with her 229,000 Instagram followers. While some might not find her shots empowering, given that her body meets a lot of conventional beauty standards, you have to give her props for tirelessly fighting for nipple equality.
Stasey has made headlines for baring her breasts, despite Instagram’s community guidelines that deem female nipples as “explicit content.” Unlike male nipples, that are just “nipples.”
But don’t assume Stasey will get her gear off for just anyone. In 2015, she revealed the Good Weekend magazine pulled a profile on her after she refused to pose nude for a shoot.
“They wanted to team an interview about my upset over the constant objectification of women with a sexualized photo shoot,” she wrote on Twitter. “I declined. And miraculously, conveniently after I said I wouldn’t do it, they claimed the magazine was downsized and wouldn’t run the piece.”
In another tweet, she says, “I’m not afraid of spiders because I think they’ll hurt me. I’m afraid they’ll love me so much that I can only disappoint them.” Yep, she’s an icon alright.