Paulina Porizkova proudly stripped down and posed with the word ‘truth’ written across her chest for a spread featured in the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, but the model has admitted she was initially hesitant to participate in the empowering shoot.
The 52-year-old was one of the models who turned her naked body into a canvas for the publication’s In Her Own Words project. After posing for the spread, Paulina penned an essay about what made her ultimately decide to return to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
Paulina revealed she has reoccurring nightmares about posing for the publication at her age, explaining that in those dreams she is left waiting around in a bikini while younger models are being photographed in their swimsuits.
Her word: Paulina Porizkova had the word ‘truth’ painted on her chest before posing for an empowering nude spread featured in the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue
Work of art: As part of SI’s ‘In Her Own Words’ project, Paulina and the other models turned their body into canvases covered with meaningful words
Exposed: Although she was apprehensive about posing for the magazine at her age, Paulina ultimately decided do it because of her love of words and writing
She shared this snap to Instagram with the caption: ‘I realized the word I was so proud to have picked wasn’t just mine. It’s a word that demands we gather our confidence, demands we be seen, demands we speak, demands we are heard’
‘One doesn’t have to be Freud to get the gist of it,’ she said of her dreams. ‘In my opinion, nothing ages as poorly as a beautiful woman’s confidence.’
When she received a call from the publication right before Christmas, Paulina admitted her initial reaction was to tell them ‘no way,’ noting that her ‘expiration date has passed’ as far as modeling goes.
‘Then SI told me it was about words. Words and nudity. Now they had my attention. Reading is hands-down my favorite activity. I write. Words are my life,’ she explained.
Paulina grew up with Sweden and was taught that it was ‘healthy and honest’ to be naked; however, she noted that doesn’t necessarily mean she wants to pose nude for a photo.
‘Once your nudity is captured, it belongs to others who can and will dissect it and judge,’ she said. ‘And as I said, although I feel more confident as a person, this in no way translates to being confident about my looks. At 52 and unaltered, people tell me I look good for my age. This is not the same as being told you’re beautiful.
‘But melding me the model with me the writer was an irresistible offer. I would get to use my body in a new way: to make people read!’
Paulina said she was given the freedom to pose any way she wanted and choose any words she wanted to be painted on her body.
Owning it: Sailor Brinkley Cook also stripped down as part of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s ‘In Her Words’ shoot
‘Hurts my heart’: The 19-year-old took to Instagram on Tuesday to defend the shoot after critics claimed she and the other models were objectifying themselves
She was still feeling apprehensive on the day of the shoot, but that all changed when photographer Taylor Ballantyne showed her some of the pictures from the other models’ shoots.
‘They were beautiful. Women of all different sizes and ages, naked, their skin shouting words they wanted the world to see. Fierce. Human. Lover. Real. Mother. Optimist. Genuine. Strong,’ she explained.
‘None of it was sexy or coy, just vulnerable and honest. The beauty lay not in the perfection of the bodies, quite the contrary, it was in the confidence and bravery it took to reveal their imperfections.’
Paulina had chosen to write ‘truth’ on her body, and while she was the only one to choose that particular word, she realized the other models ‘had the outcome of that word scribbled all over them.’
Sailor Brinkley Cook, 19, Aly Raisman, 23, and Robyn Lawley, 28, are also featured in the nude shoot. Each one of the women stripped down and wrote words that represent how they see themselves over their bodies.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the In Her Words project marks the ‘evolution’ of the iconic Sports Illustrated issue in the light of the ongoing push for women’s equality.
In the buff: Sailor joined Aly Rasiman, Paulina Porizkova, Robyn Lawley, and a cast of other models in the nude Sports Illustrated Swimsuit spread
Empowering: Photos from the shoot show Sailor posing with words like ‘strong’ written on her body
Sailor took to Instagram on Tuesday to defend the spread and her choice to participate in it.
‘Hearing the backlash towards the In Her Own Words project hurts my heart,’ she wrote. ‘To know that we are in a world where if a woman chooses to embrace her body, strip nude and pose powerfully she is being told she is objectifying herself makes me not only uncomfortable but makes me really feel the need to say what I’m about to say.
Black and white photos from the shoot show Sailor posing completely naked with ‘truthful’ words written all over her body, and she made sure to stress that she wanted to be a part of the project, as did the other models.
‘This project, for me and for the other girls who CHOSE to participate, was about TAKING OUR POWER BACK,’ she said. ‘In an industry where it is rare for models to have a say in the content they are being used to create, having total self control and creative control during the IHOW shoot was true and unbridled self empowerment.’
Sailor said the ‘very emotional’ project took over a year to complete, noting that she was on every on of the shoots.
‘When a girl came in to shoot it was a real experience,’ she explained, ‘it wasn’t on a time limit and it didn’t have corporate heads you didn’t know the name of screaming to “get the shot!”
Learning to love herself: Sailor has been candid about her past struggles with body image, and she said the project helped her accept herself more
Sharing her truth: Sailor wrote ‘artist’ on her arm and ‘lover’ on her chest
‘It was a group of women working together to create something special for the world and most importantly themselves. Models/athletes/PEOPLE chose to do this. They did not get told to do this,’ she added.
Sailor insisted there was no pressure to pose for the spread. If a model was feeling too emotional and didn’t want to be on set that day, she didn’t have to. She would come back the next day, and they would talk about how they were feeling.
‘If someone backed out, all good, we understood how emotional it can be to strip yourself of not only clothes but an armor we all put up from exterior criticism,’ she said.
‘This project had the intention of showing women feeling POWERFUL in who they are. That’s that,’ she added.
The powerful project meant a lot to Sailor, who has candidly spoken about how she used to struggle with body image and the pressure to be thin.
‘I grew up hating my body and myself thus creating a overlying insecurity felt throughout my teen years’ she wrote. ‘Doing this project helped me turn a leaf in my confidence and insecurity.
‘I feel sexy I feel secure I feel badass I feel like I can pose naked and be respected just as much as anyone else,’ she ended her post.
Brave: Aly Raisman also posed naked for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s 2018 issue
Making a statement: The 23-year-old posed for the shoot not long after taking the stand at the trial of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar
And Sailor wasn’t the only one who left the project feeling confident and empowered.
Aly’s shoot was released just weeks after she took to the stand at the trial of pedophile Team USA doctor Larry Nassar in order to offer a powerful victim impact statement detailing the abuse she suffered at his hands.
‘I’m so excited to be a part of the issue for the second year in a row,’ Aly, who posed in an athletic-themed bikini spread last year, told Sports Illustrated.
‘This year has an extra special meaning to me, because it’s such an incredible time for women and everyone should feel as though they can express themselves however they want.
‘For the shoots, I was excited, but also a little nervous in the beginning, because it’s still a new experience. Once we started shooting, I felt comfortable because everyone on set was so supportive!’
Aly, who has become a vocal advocate for body positivity and for survivors of sexual assault, explained that one of the messages behind the shoot is that ‘women do not have to be modest to be respected.’
Bold: The gymnast posed with ‘truthful and empowering’ words written across her body, including ‘survivor’ on her chest
Team: Aly said she felt comfortable once they started shooting because ‘everyone on set was so supportive’
Impressions: ‘For the shoots, I was excited, but also a little nervous in the beginning, because it’s still a new experience,’ Aly said
‘I believe that women (or anyone) should be able to wear whatever makes them feel comfortable and happy,’ she added. ‘Our society puts too much pressure on women and young girls to look “perfect,” and we have to stop doing that.
‘I’m proud that SI Swim is using women of all shapes and sizes with various backgrounds. Each woman in the issue has her own unique story, and I am honored to be a part of it.’
The gymnast, who made headlines after staring down her abuser in court while delivering her incredibly strong statement last month, wants her voice as well as that of other girls and women to be heard.
‘I take the responsibility [to be a role model] very seriously,’ Aly, who twice captained her country’s gymnastics team at the Olympics, said. ‘I am proud to be considered a role model, and I hope that by using my voice, I can help create change for future generations.
‘Everyone deserves to feel safe and heard. We must listen to those that speak up and offer our help.’
While posing provocatively while nude might not immediately seem like a move away from the publication’s traditional projects, those behind the shoot insisted that the nakedness was a form of expression, allowing the models involved to express their ‘voice, strength and passion… in the rawest form’.
Inspiration: Aly explained that one of the messages behind the shoot is that ‘women do not have to be modest to be respected’
Advocate: Aly’s shoot allowed her to ‘take control’ in front of the camera and gave her the chance to direct how the photos were taken
Speaking out: The gymnast, who made headlines after staring down her abuser in court while delivering her incredibly strong statement last month (pictured), wants her voice to be heard
The intention was to use the kinds of images that readers expect from the magazine and then use those as a platform to deliver a more meaningful and empowering message. It is in fact the first time that a fully nude spread — which was shot by a female photographer — will run in the publication, which previously focused more on raunchy shots featuring risque swimwear.
‘In Her Own Words is a continuation and evolution of the essence of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit,’ the publication explained on its website. ‘It is a platform that allows the voice, the strength and the passion of these women to be expressed in the rawest form…on the naked body…with all the artistic and creative control left to them.’
In order to make the models feel as comfortable as possible in the face of the perhaps-daunting prospect of posing nude in front of cameras and a crew of people, the magazine ‘stripped down’ its studio and used a team comprised of only women for this particular shoot.
‘We handed over the control to the women who are our brand,’ it explained online. ‘We believed in, supported and encouraged them to become a canvas and share their truth.’
Indeed, supermodel Paulina told SI the project is about so much ‘more than being naked.’
‘It’s not just that you’re nude, but it’s also, “You’re nude and you show me the way you want me to see you.” It’s even more naked than naked,’ she explained.
‘I wanted to say that I’m not ashamed of my body and you shouldn’t be ashamed of your body, no matter what age you are. We all have our own truths. We all want to live according to our own truths. We want to be true to ourselves so truth is what matters more than anything.’
Strike a pose: The words written on their bodies represent how they see themselves, and Robyn posed with ‘creative’ and ‘nurturer’ emblazoned on her upper body
Parent: Robyn, 28, has a tow-year-old daughter named Ripley, and she had the word ‘mother’ written below her collar bone
The powerful project was particularly meaningful for Sailor.
‘It was really special to be a part of this and get to express myself in a very raw, uncensored way,’ she said. ‘Having these words written all over your naked body and having that next level of exposure — I felt sexy, obviously, but I felt more emotional and it helped me accept myself.’
Sailor wrote ‘artist’ on her arm and ‘natural’ on the curve of her backside before striking an elegant pose for the project.
Meanwhile, Robyn hopes that the shoot will help other girls — including her nearly three-year-old daughter Ripley — realize they more than just a sum of their physical features.
‘My daughter is growing up in this world right now and I want her to love who she is because it is so important,’ she told SI.
‘If she ever came to me and said, “I don’t feel comfortable in my body,” I don’t know what I would do. I’d die on the inside. We are women and we are human. We have stretch marks. We have rolls. We have cellulite. That’s all part of our bodies.
‘We become so obsessed with our exterior message; we give no thoughts to what’s in our heads,’ she added. ‘I just want all those girls out there to know they are so beautiful and so special.’
Role model: Robyn stressed that she wants her daughter to grow up loving who she is
‘Mother,’ ‘nurturer,’ ‘human,’ and ‘creative,’ were just a few of the words Robyn had scrawled across her body for the shoot.
For editor MJ Day, the shoot marks a big shift for the publication, and one which she feels has been worked towards for many years now.
She has made concerted efforts to embrace a much more diverse cast of Swimsuit stars, explaining to Vanity Fair that she hopes to continue diversifying the magazine beyond the rather narrow standards of beauty that it once embraced and celebrated.
‘Why are we only saying to ourselves that there’s just one type of person that’s worthy of being celebrated?’ she asked.
‘It’s bulls**t, and we all know it, and we all live it, yet it’s continued to be propagated in the media.’
She went on to explain to Vanity Fair that this does not mean the magazine is going to turn its back on those sexy beach-based shoots that have filled its pages for years — instead MJ hopes that she can alter the way that the images, and particularly the women in them, are viewed.
‘It’s about allowing women to exist in the world without being harassed or judged regardless of how they like to present themselves. That’s an underlying thread that exists throughout the Swimsuit Issue,’ she said.
‘You have Harvard graduates, you have billion-dollar moguls, you have philanthropists, you have teachers, you have mothers — you have a full range of women represented in the alumnus of this magazine, and not one of them failed because they wore a bikini.’