Paulina Porizkova explains why she shares her tears publicly: 'Pain isolates you'
Paulina Porizkova has never shied away from expressing her pain, pleasures and passions online — despite criticism from trolls that claim she's being performative.
But on Friday, the supermodel and activist had a message for those naysayers.
"Private crying versus public crying… they both have the same point of origin. Pain," she began an Instagram post that featured a photo of herself laying on a sofa as her eyes welled up with tears.
"In publicizing your pain, by broadcasting it, you can either make people empathize, (usually those who already understand pain), but make others uncomfortable," she continued. "Our culture can accept public tears of gratitude, but not public tears of pain. Public tears are either a loss of control — crying on the street, in a restaurant, on the subway — or self pitying, as in the case of social media.
"There is a notion that if someone will photograph themselves while in this private space of pain they are being performative rather [than] honest," she wrote. "The mere act of lifting a phone camera to capture one's pain is an interruption of the pain, which is supposed to render us incapable of such acts. It's objectifying our pain. Hence, playing a victim for the empathy of others."
She went on to say that while she can only speak for herself, "it’s not the capturing of your tears for the empathy of others, it's the element of making it public."
"Why does one feel the need to publicize private pain?" she asked. "Because pain isolates you. It traps you on a deserted island. And your tearful selfies are in fact the messages in a bottle you toss in the water in an attempt to be heard."
Porizkova's tearful message resonated with many of her followers.
"Beautifully written and expressed, especially that last paragraph," one commenter wrote. "I so appreciate you being so open about pain. It's a hard part of life and made so much harder when people are rejected/ostracized for making themselves vulnerable and expressing it honestly."
"I think people have a hard time acknowledging someone's pain," another admirer said. "Maybe they feel uncomfortable or even fear it is contagious. I think many hide their pain or at least try at the expense of others. I think it would be amazing if we could all show compassion and just listen. Sending love and hugs."
In recent years, Porizkova has truly knocked down the fourth wall with her fans.
Not only has the supermodel advocated for Hollywood — and society overall — to disrupt unrealistic beauty standards, but she's routinely opened up about the ups and downs she's had.
In August, the model got vulnerable with her fans while sharing a photo of herself crying.
"I know you all enjoy happy posts, seeing people pick themselves up, dust off their pants and get back on the horse, all while smiling to let you know this fall just made them stronger and better people. But. Everyday is not a happy day in the path of recovery," she wrote alongside the image.
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