Many people have voiced that Kim Kardashian took another aim at “breaking the internet” this past week when posting a (still censored) nude selfie on her Instagram page. For some reason, this photo seemed to elicit an extremely high number of responses even though it was not a large media release from the star. Almost instantly words of support for the star were overpowered with degrading comments condemning Kardashian’s choice.

So, why is it that this photo made so many people that upset? It’s because the minute a woman expresses that her body is to be shared by her choice it is immediately deemed as “unbecoming” or “classless”. One must ponder the question of, if in a different context what type of reaction would this photo have warranted? If for say on the cover of a magazine, tweeted by Kanye, or if the photo came during Kim’s pregnancy and would have been deemed a “photo of the miracle of what the female body can do”. We need to sit back and think why the female body is only seen as beautiful when it is doing a service for someone else.

For a great majority of history, women were never artists, only subjects. Since the beginning of time, women’s bodies were the subject of everything from Renaissance art to the impressionist period. The depiction of women’s bodies was for an audience of everyone but those same women being depicted and often still is today. We normalize female nudity, but only if it is featured in a display fit for this “male gaze”.

The female body when displayed in advertisements, films, and social media is often included as a sexual display for others to view. A prime example is if the same photo were posted on a woman’s personal Instagram, as well as a popular Instagram for young adults that features the female body, such as “TFM girls,” they would elicit two very different responses based on the platform they're shared on. This is because our society raises us to fear a woman who is comfortable and confident in her body, regardless of the shape – a mindset feared by media outlets and corporations that profit off female insecurity.

Many celebrities, such as Chloe Grace Moretz and Pink, criticized Kardashian as a mother and reminded her that she should be acting as a role model, but in our progressing society shouldn’t we begin to express the idea that women’s bodies and sexuality are first and foremost their own?

If we raise our young girls to think that they should not share their bodies to their own comfort level, but instead to the extent asked of them by men and outside sources, we are raising a weak-minded generation. Teaching girls from a young age to see their bodies and minds as strong, empowering, and entirely their own, versus just a platform to be judged based on sexual value, is the only way to equip girls with a health mindset to grow into.

All things considered, Kardashian’s selfie may be a blessing in disguise – a step towards accepting the idea that a female’s body is her own to share, grow, and most importantly love.