This week, a 12-word joke on Instagram led to a feminist crisis.

Celeste Barber, the 39-year-old Australian comedian, actress and author, did what she's been doing for years. She shared a short video of 30-year-old model, actress and author Emily Ratajkowski posing in a g-string. And then she parodied it.

Ratajkowski's body is devoid of rolls or cellulite, her skin golden with professional studio lighting, and her proportions impossibly rare. This, of course, is not her fault. But it is how she has made much of her money, which makes those details relevant.

Barber's body looks like most. That is where the comedy lies.

If the number one rule of comedy is to punch up, then Barber is an example of a comedian who never faults. The content she imitates features some of the most beautiful, rich and powerful women in the world, Ratajkowski being one of them. The butt of the joke, really, is Barber herself. While a model writhes around on the beach as though she's having an orgasm, or wears a swimsuit so small it's incompatible with the female anatomy, Barber's whole point is thatshedoesn't measure up. Eight and a half million people follow her on Instagram because, inevitably, neither do we.

But as good parody does, Barber's posts also reveal the absurdity of an industry that sexualises and objectifies women, with the end goal to make (most) women hate themselves. This is the work of an institution - not a person. Four days ago, however, Barber struck a slightly different tone.

It is not the parody of Ratajkowski that is attracting criticism, but the caption beneath it. Barber wrote: "We are sick of you objectifying our bodies! Also, here’s my ass."

Major publications were quick to call Barber's post "misogynistic", with some suggesting she had "punched down" on sex workers. It seems like a stretch to accuse Barber of blaming sex workers for their own assault, based on a post that was very clearly, and very specifically, about Ratajkowski herself.

Ratajkowski is not a sex worker. With 28.5 million followers on Instagram, a net worth estimated to be above $8 million, and a book about to be released that is set to be one of the biggest of the year, it's unclear how Barber could possibly be punching down.

Lauren Beckman wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald, "Ratajkowski may not see Barber’s post because the model has blocked her but I guarantee many women who have been abused will. And they will continue to internalise that shame and guilt that society has instilled in us, that tells us if we are sexually assaulted, it is our own fault. You clearly wanted it. What were you wearing? You