Chloe Bailey’s Swarm Sex Scene Is Not an Excuse to Sexualize the Actor in Real Life

This treatment of Chloe Bailey is in line with our culture’s long history of objectifying female artists, particularly those who begin their careers as children or teenagers. The “girl to woman” narrative forces a sexualized lens on young women in the public eye, focusing undue attention on their sex lives, their bodies, their “virtue.” As a Black woman, Bailey is also more likely to be criticized as being overtly sexual merely for existing in her own body. 

Since embarking on her solo career in 2021 (under the stage name Chlöe), Bailey has begun to experiment with her onstage persona, showing a little more skin and embracing her sexuality. Speaking to Allure in June of last year about her sexy onstage presence, she said, “Maybe this is a side of me that I’ve always wanted to get out but I’ve been too scared. The Chlöe onstage? I’m fearless. I feel sexy. I feel strong. I feel like nothing can hold me back.” And that is how she should feel at all times, without fear of retribution or worse. An artist’s profession does not make it open season for slut-shaming. Bailey should be able to post a sexy picture on Instagram or act in a sex scene or film a sexy music video without fear of being called nasty names. 

It’s important to remember, too, that an artist’s creative decisions are not real life—they’re a performance, and should be viewed as such first and foremost. Bailey made as much clear in an interview with Deadline while promoting Swarm. “As open and liberal as I am with my body, I was very scared because I haven’t had that many partners,” she said. “I’m not like, that…that sexual.”

People are drawing conclusions about a celebrity’s sexuality based on social media or the characters they play onscreen, and that’s dangerous for the artists who find themselves on the other side of these parasocial relationships. A woman’s deciding to put her body in the public eye doesn’t give people the right to comment on her body, to exploit her, or to slut-shame. During her time as Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke experienced a similar backlash. In an interview on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, Clarke spoke about her experiences on set that made her feel uncomfortable. “I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, ‘No, the sheet stays up,’ and they’re like, ‘You don’t wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans.’ And I’m like, ‘Fuck you,’” Clarke recalled.

Clarke shouldn’t be pressured to appear nude, just as Bailey shouldn’t feel pressure not to be in nude scenes. Some might judge her, but it matters more that Bailey has agency over her body in whatever way she decides to portray it. Period.