But back to what’s really getting at everyone (as you suppose): That I’m not commenting on “socioeconomic privilege as it relates to objectification of women.” I’m honestly not ready to talk about that right now. I’m not prepared. I haven’t thought that through or done my research. What I know is that my experience was enjoyable through and through. It was wild and different. At no point did I feel uncomfortable, which is very unlike the modeling job that spurred my 2008 article. And here’s the thing– reading what I wrote in 2008 only confirmed my instinct that I should wait a while to write about my Maxim experience at length. I said things in my 2008 article that I laugh at now. I didn’t know what I was talking about. I’m fresh out of this Maxim experience. Right now, it seems innocent and fun. In a year from now, I might still feel that way. Five years from now, I could have a totally different point of view. Part of why blogs are so interesting is because they change as the people behind them change. Give me some time and I’m sure there will be something that makes me write about this Maxim instance further. That’s how my writing usually works. Or else I end up forcing meaning upon something, and that’s not authentic whatsoever and it makes me CRINGE.

(Side note-ish: Maybe at the moment I really don’t have anything interesting to say about it because I’m not looking that far into it currently. Where I work now, we hire really hot male models for certain events and I see nothing wrong with that. That’s what we (and our audience) want to see!)

I have been both dismissive and defensive when addressing these sometimes accusatory comments. For that I am sorry. I should have taken a step back before responding.

But DAMN! You even won me over with your extremely thought-out comment!

Now to your questions: beer yes, wine always, your hair is adorable, and tailgating is a huge HELL YES!

I still like your blog Kailey! But I think Katya made some good points here.

I understand that you don’t want to be forced to consider your actions in a socially conscious light. That’s fine as a general rule, as a person is free to engage in whatever level of introspection he or she wishes. But considering that you’re presenting a narrative of your experiences to readers and clearly intend it to be of interest in the journalistic sense, I think it’s legitimately frustrating to your readers when you hew to this shallow level of “I had fun and looked pretty.” I think the “low carb” diet is really clouding the issue and doesn’t really enter into this at all. Your readers are genuinely interested in what you think about more important issues than what you look like. It seems short sighted that you don’t wish to engage in a deeper analysis and instead prefer to talk about your appearance. Maybe you should devote more of your energy to modeling than to writing if this is where your true interests lie.

Finally: On the contrary, I think it IS “your place” not to *decide* what the ramifications are for others, but at least to contemplate them from your own perspective. It’s not very interesting or meaningful to simply say that you were hired for the gig and enjoyed it. Your list is a deliberately facile presentation of the event and that’s obviously not what I meant by “ramifications.” Many commenters have pointed out that participating in this kind of event reflects certain values about women’s appearances and the roles women play in society, which it seems somewhat insidious to leave undiscussed. Also, it’s a good entry point for discussing socioeconomic privilege as it relates to objectification of women, which several commenters also touched on. In response to requests that you comment on these issues, you are essentially saying over and over again, “All I wanted to do was have fun and look pretty!” I’ll readily believe that’s all you wanted, but it seems very shallow and frustrating to your readers who believe you are capable of more interesting reflection. Maybe of the kind of that you wrote in your article about body image that you’re now denouncing. I don’t think you have to write a treatise on your values as they relate to the institution of modeling, or some kind of academic paper on socioeconomic privilege and the male gaze. I’m just asking that you not be dismissive to what I think are very reasonable expressions of interest in this subject from your commenters.