By now all of you have probably seen Kim Kardashian's nude selfie. If not, please direct your attention below:
This was accompanied by the caption, "When you're like I have nothing to wear LOL." Now, I saw this picture before the internet blew up, and I thought nothing of it. All I saw was Kim doing her thing. But what I saw after was the most disturbing of all: the vast majority of the internet shaming Kim Kardashian for living her life.
Countless Facebook posts saying that she was "looking for attention" and even celebrities such as Bette Midler and Chloe Grace Moretz tweeting rude comments. At least Bette Midler's comment was meant to be a joke, but Chloe's comment got to the heart of the problem:
Moretz is correct in saying that young women should be taught that they have more to offer than their bodies. However, she is simultaneously shaming Kim Kardashian for being proud of the body she has. Kim recently had a baby this December and she looks great! I don't know who wouldn't want to show off that post-baby bod.
The problem I have is how people – men and women included – are telling Kim Kardashian what she can and can't do with her body. As soon as she takes the power for herself to decide how she wants to feel empowered, she is setting a bad example? If a male celebrity had posted the same picture, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
The male equivalent would have ended in a Buzzfeed post like "12 People Who Died From Thirst From Ryan Gosling's Nude Selfie." Instead, when Kim Kardashian does it everyone immediately jumps on the slut-shaming bandwagon. Why does a picture of Kim showing off her body make people assume she's a bad person? A slut? An attention whore? A bad mother? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves and assess our own bias toward empowered women. *mic drop*
Demi Lovato really summed up with her Instagram post in support of Kim Kardashian:
So how about we all "chillax" and make a promise to police our own bodies and let everybody live their lives? I even wrote one for you:
The Body Positivity Promise:
I, (insert name here), promise to show off my own body however much or however little is comfortable for me. I promise not to judge others for how comfortable they are in displaying their bodies and realize that that is up to them to decide. I own my body and no one else's and am therefore only an expert on how I, myself, should live my life. I promise to accept all bodies and hope that others do so in return.
#BodyPosPromise
