Just a few short months ago, the National Post interviewed feminist icon and women's activist Gloria Steinem. In the crowded press room, the interviewer pointed out that a lot of the women in the room owe their position to Steinem. The interviewer suggested that Steinem fought so hard for respect for women, which they have only rejected today — women allow their bodies to be treated like pieces of meat, he suggested. Her response was simple and shocking to many: "No," she said. "This generation of young women is actually much more feminist than we ever were."

In the past decade and beyond — especially in the 2000s — women have put their bodies on display in music videos, in magazines and in advertisements in general, for whatever the reason may be. In the interview, Steinem posed an enquiry back to the man: "And my question to the young woman who is dressing as you describe is: Is she doing it because she wants to? Is she body-proud? Is she sexuality- proud? Because then, I say, great."

So when does the line between the objectification of women's bodies in mainstream media and empowerment become blurry? When women lose the option to have a choice, Steinem suggested. Unlike Jean Kilbourne, who claims that the media portrays women as over-sexualized objects, Steinem suggested that if these women know what they are doing, then what is the problem?

Working in the fashion industry, I tend to get questioned often regarding modelling swimwear and lingerie. People always ask if I am forced to flaunt my body and if I feel uncomfortable posing for print ads or walking down the runway in barely-there intimates. The truth is I love what I do; I have never been forced to wear something I wasn't comfortable in, and I never would do that. With that being said, the fashion industry makes you very aware of your body and its flaws — one eye opens more than the other in photos, thighs are too big, forehead is too wide — we hear it all.

As Steinem suggested, I am indeed an empowered woman: I feel confident in my body and know many other women who are the same. As for the politics of the blurry line of empowerment? Both male and female models at a Canadian Fashion Agency agreed with Steinem: "Politics is just unequal power." Sometimes women's bodies are objectified in the media, but both the male and female models agreed that the female models feel confident in their skin. Women today are more feminist than Steinem's generation was because they don't let men walk all over them in the way that they have in the past. It is all about attitude — and women in today's world know that they are strong and powerful.

Returning to the interviewer's question to Steinem, it could then be said that today's women are not rejecting the respect Steinem fought so hard for, but rather they have done something no generation before has been able to fully accomplish: they have taken back the right to their own bodies and the power of choice.

"Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself." — Gloria Steinem