Let me start by saying that the Kardashians and Jenners are not a part of my world. I do not watch their TV shows or follow them on Instagram. I admire their business savvy, glance at their photo shoots or ads in my monthly Cosmopolitan, and go about my merry way. They simply are not people of interest to me. So last week, when a BuzzFeed article on my Facebook feed announced that Kim Kardashian had posted a nude selfie that "broke the Internet," I rolled my eyes and kept scrolling.
This is the image. The black bars were placed there by Kim.
A few hours later, I went on Facebook again, only to see yet more posts about Kim. This time around, celebrities were posting and reacting to the selfie. Miley Cyrus, Pink, Chloe Grace Moretz and Piers Morgan all gave their two cent's worth on the picture -- they thought it was all just a silly attempt for Kim to get attention using her body. Bette Midler posted a scathing tweet (I'll admit, I did laugh):
Emily Ratajkowski, Sharon Osbourne, and Amber Rose took different stances. Emily and Sharon posted nude selfies in solidarity with Kim, and Amber Rose asked Kim to join the Slutwalk, which is a campaign to end slut-shaming.
Abigail Breslin and Bella Thorne took a different approach. Bella wrote on Twitter in defense of Kim, "I think every woman should be allowed to make their own choices with their OWN bodies soo.." Abigail discussed the double standard of how men and women are portrayed in the media: "Slut-shaming isn't chill ever. Anybody who tries to say how a woman chooses to display their OWN body is wrong, is severely misinformed and misguided. If a guy posts a shirtless picture, people say how "steamy" and "hot" it is. But if a woman chooses to do that, it's setting a bad example?"
Kim spoke out against the people in opposition to the photograph: “It's 2016. The body-shaming and slut-shaming - it's like, enough is enough. I will not live my life dictated by the issues you have with my sexuality. You be you and let me be me. I am a mother. I am a wife, a sister, a daughter, an entrepreneur and I am allowed to be sexy.”
She also sent out some snarky tweets:
I find our society's obsession with the female body to be alarming and disturbing. Females, especially those in the public eye, are constantly scrutinized -- their dress is too short or too tight, their boobs are too big or small, hips too wide or skinny, she is either showing too much skin or not enough. It's annoying and frustrating. People want to look at the female form in a sexualized manner but are quick to criticize and comment when a woman makes a conscious choice to show a lot of skin or be nude.
I find it interesting that so many people get so upset when they see a naked or scantily clad female body. I used to work at a Victoria's Secret, and the comments from customers that I heard about the photographs used to decorate the store were ignorant, sexist and derogatory. While I understand that the models are highly sexualized and represent an unattainable lifestyle and body type, I would get really annoyed with customers. We all have bodies, and we were all born naked. Why is it necessary to make rude, disgusting comments about the female form?
While the way women are mostly portrayed in the media is a different issue of itself, Kim made a conscious choice to take the nude picture and post it to the Internet. She knew she was going to get press and media attention, and that's what she got. Kim is empowered by posing nude, which is great for her. Not everyone is.
A lot of her critics denounced her selfie by calling her a bad role model. In their eyes, posing nude by choice is wrong and makes you a bad person, especially if the photo is in a sexualized manner. My question is this, is it really Kim Kardashian's first responsibility to be a role model for young women? No, her first responsibility is to herself. Why is it socially acceptable when a man posts a similar picture to Kim's, but not okay if a woman does?
Every woman has the right to dress herself as she pleases and to do with her body what she pleases. It is no one's place to decide what another woman can or cannot do.
My advice? If you don't want to see a naked body on the Internet, don't click on the article or the picture. Unlike the Facebook pages that post pictures you don't want to see. Don't see R-rated movies when there is nudity mentioned in the rating. Don't go into a lingerie store and get upset when there are pictures of models in panties and bras. And most importantly, don't criticize the choices a woman makes with her body. It is her body and her choice.
