Cara Delevingne made Met Gala's best-dressed lists for her Dior outfit pegged with a message against misogyny, but according to Canadian artist and sex educator Luna Matatas, the model's iconic white vest stole her trademarked phrase without proper credit.
“Hey y’all, so apparently ‘Peg The Patriarchy’ made it to the Met Gala without credit to me or mention of me from the person wearing it,” Matatas said in a video posted to her story, per Jezebel. “You can help me, you can support me, I obviously don’t have a legal team to fight this.”
Matatas, who hosts an anal-sex-themed show named "The Plug Podcast," coined the term in 2015 and trademarked the phrase, giving her license to sell mugs, shirts and other merchandise with the phrase. The catchy saying has taken off, with many using the phrase for their own profit. Matatas revealed her assistance has launched regular reviews of sites like Etsy to search for cases of infringement.
"Remember that as a fat, queer, POC I am working twice as hard just to do what I'm already amazing at. From censorship to patriarchy to racism, all biz barriers specific to my social location. Enter sex shop co-owner [Delevingne] at Met Gala with a custom-designed vest with Peg the Patriarchy on it. What's grossest for me is the media interviews – with Cara blatantly owning it as if it wasn't already owned," Matatas continued in her Instagram post.
"I coined Peg the Patriarchy in 2015 Peg the Patriarchy is about subversion, not about an anal sex act and not about men. It's a metaphor for subverting the system that requires subservience within a gender binary," she added.
According to Buzzfeed, when asked what the statement meant to her on the red carpet as she entered the Met Gala, Delevigne told Keke Palmer “it’s about women empowerment—equality, gender equality, you know—it’s a bit like ‘stick it to the man."
Matatas recognizes the statement certainly means different things to everyone else who chooses to identify with it, but Delevingne's interpretation comes from a place of privilege indicative of her "social location."
"She’s a white, thin, very privileged person. For me a fat, queer, POC body with a small business, it’s really different coming from me and wrapping it in the equity we’re trying got seek out," she said. "When we center things around men or 'sticking it to' whatever, it also takes away from the fact that we have our own internalized work to do."
Moving forward, the artist says the only response she hopes to receive from Delevingne and the major designer is just some recognition for the phrase she's created and worked to bring awareness to.
"It would be so wonderful just to say, Hey, we love your phrase and we’re so glad that more people are seeing it.' That would be all: credit. I’m not looking for money I’m not looking to go legal routes. Credit would just help me a lot," she said.
