Unless you've been fortunate enough to be living under a rock, by now you are well aware that Kim Kardashian recently shared a nude selfie on Instagram and proceeded to "break the Internet" once again. Now, I don't particularly care about the Kardashians or the Jenners or whoever else, and I'm baffled by "Pop Star Shares Photo of Baby's First Poop!" being trending news all over the world, and pop culture in general usually leads to my exasperated chorus of, "wait, who?" because I, apparently, have been living under a rock.
But I digress.
The point is, Kim Kardashian got naked and the Internet had a lot to say about it.
Everyone from Bette Midler (wait, who?) to Chloe Moretz (that one girl from that one movie) took to Twitter to comment on the photo, and not much of it was pretty. Despite the fact that the selfie was entirely censored and Kardashian has shared several nude photo shoots in the past, commenters took it upon themselves to question her self-respect and intelligence and whatever else women apparently can't have without also being naked.
True to form, Kardashian did not take the insults lying down, instead calling Midler out on her fake friendship and questioning Moretz's fame. Not particularly mature for a mother of two, perhaps, but well within her right to defend herself. She then took to her personal website to say more on the issue, with a justifiable rant on slut shaming and body shaming that insists that she is empowered and liberated by her body, and does not understand why anyone else feels the need to get involved.
Basically, Kim Kardashian is a grown-ass woman consensually sharing CENSORED photos of her own damn body and harming no one in the process. Why do we care? Why, in 2016, are we still perpetuating the notion that a woman can't be both sexually liberated and self-respecting? As a matter of fact, why are we still perpetuating the notion that nudity in itself is inherently sexual? If you want to preach that Kardashian, or any other woman, is supposed to be setting examples for young women and girls, your first step should probably be to stop shaming her for loving herself.
Now, all of this being said, and my pop culture knowledge rapidly dwindling, we can't pretend that Kardashian's hands are entirely clean. Where was her opposition to slut shaming when Kanye was trashing Amber Rose? Where was all the body positivity and women-loving-women then? If you're going to advocate for one woman's sexual liberation, you've got to advocate for all of them, or you'll be taken about as seriously as most people take Kim Kardashian.
