Over the last few years, it might be said that Amber Rose has had more impact on changing the way women view themselves than any other celebrity of her kind. It doesn’t seem so crazy when you consider her connection with vapid bobbleheads like the Kardashians, but unlike the Kardashians, whose popularity is built around a facade, Rose is all about embracing individuality and freedom of the spirit.
What sets Rose apart in Hollywood is, ironically, her personality. She’s a self-labelled ‘Bad Bitch’, a figurehead of female power not ashamed to admit people are attracted to her while keeping their sense of entitlement in check. She makes no apologies, and thinks no other woman on the path to discovering her identity should either.
Before entering the public eye, Rose was a stripper. Though she started out at 15, it wasn’t until 18, while living in a housing project in The Bronx, that she made it her full-time job. In the first example of Rose going against the trends, she proudly exclaims “that was the best time of my life!”
She continued for seven years, before turning to a career in modelling. During her appearance in the music video for Ludacris’s What Girls Like, she was spotted by Kanye West, and the pair began a relationship.
Immediately, the celebrity-obsessed public were drawn to her shaved head and unique fashion sense. It bred admiration and, as is the despicable norm, abuse. It wasn’t anything new; Rose recalls being called a slut since her high-school days, when a boy made it appear she was giving him head during a game of ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’. Once again, she was thrust into the spotlight, and there was no escaping it.
“I never wanted to be famous. I didn’t ask for that. I didn’t even say anything for years. The world can’t be mad at me because people took a liking to my look. No one even knew what my voice sounded like!”
Her relationship with West ended traumatically. On radio, he ‘slut-shamed’ her by joking that it “took 30 showers” before another woman was willing to accept him. She ended up with Wiz Khalifa, with whom she had a child, but after just over a year of marriage they divorced. The persecution she had felt since attaining celebrity status reached a new level, with millions of people a month starting to follow her Instragram account, many with the sole intention of denouncing her as a whore and a bad mother.
Then one day, Amber Rose woke up and said ‘fuck them’. And that’s where the real story begins.
Rose started to bite back at her critics, wearing their hurtful words with pride. Literally.
“I’m wearing my Instagram comments” – 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
Though her change in attitude had developed from entirely personal reasons, Rose found herself becoming a symbol for feminist pride. In September 2015, VH1 even called her the most underrated role model.
It was a moniker she was initially unwilling to accept, until recalling a popular quote: “A strong woman stand up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everyone else”.
In October 2015, she launched the Amber Rose Foundation with a focus on women’s rights in both their professional and private lives. The foundation’s first order of business was the Amber Rose Slut Walk, an event held in response to a Toronto police officer’s statement that if women don’t want to get raped, they shouldn’t dress like sluts.
In the same month, she released her book How to be a Bad Bitch, in which she gives advice to women on everything from their careers to their sex life.
—
Amber Rose has come a long way since she was ‘just’ the woman on a few famous rapper’s arms. She has the potential, as someone whose celebrity status primarily arose from her appearance and unfiltered commentary on social injustice on all levels, to make a significant impact on the fight for equality.
Rose stands as proof that equality does not mean conformity; every woman has the ability and the right to be celebrated for who they are.