There are so many things wrong with the image below and countless others like it that I have to dismantle my grievances and reassemble them piece by piece in order to develop a comprehensive presentation. So, make like Hannah Montana and hold on tight.
(P.S. "#Wisdom? #Think?" More like #gross and #singleminded.)
Women as Wives
This image and others like it inherently imply that women who do not embody the stereotypical domesticated wife are to be condemned. Let me fill in the gaps here. When her husband was sent into the stratosphere for being one of the best players in the NBA, and her daughter for being one of the most photogenic toddlers ever, Ayesha Curry was immediately dubbed #queen and #goals for all of social media. Let me make it clear: I don't object to her new status as a role model. Hey, if that's the kind of wife you want to be, then, by all means, look up to Mrs. Curry. But why does your admiration of Ayesha have to come with a condemnation of Kim Kardashian? News flash: Kim settled down with the one and only Kanye West and had two equally adorable children by him, which makes her a wife, too. Just because Kim opted out of being as low-profile as Ayesha doesn't make her rightful ammunition for your meme cannon.
Women as Homemakers
Women are so frequently cast or viewed as those who make the homes (not buy them) that it's threatening to social norms for a woman like Kim to openly put on display: her body, what some would consider the private details of her life and anything else she pleases, while seemingly receiving financial gain from it all. So, now everyone's all up in a tizzy. "You mean a woman is making money however she sees fit and asks permission from no one before doing so!? What is this, the 21st century!?" Actually, yes. You don't have to agree with any of the choices Kim makes to be able to concede that most of the reason why she's a hot button topic is because she is, in a word: unconventional. At least in comparison to her female counterparts, the newest being Ayesha. Kim is ridiculed for "doing nothing" to earn her fame (or perhaps infamy), yet she has managed to create a brand for herself, in cooperation with her sisters, that brought in approximately $52.5 million in 2015. What exactly is wrong with making money? When men with similar "claims to fame," make money in similar ways, they're revered as innovative. If you don't get the reference, give Hugh Hefner a quick Google, see what he's been up to for the past three decades.
Women as Categories
When did Ayesha and Kim even become... opposing people? When did that become a thing? Why is it that the only time people can understand women is when they are pitting them against each other, or using them as points of comparison for one another? What's wrong with encouraging all women and supporting all of their different and diverse lives? Why do women have to be a "Kim" or an "Ayesha?" A "Nicki" or a "Taylor?" What is this, Star Wars? Or Batman V. Superman? Or the iPhone versus Android debate? Feel however you want about popular culture and technology, but I am not a thing to be labeled a "this" or a "that."
Women as They Are
When did society simply decide that women were dimensionless enough to be typecast as a "this" or a "that?" Women are people. We aren't things to be divided into categories, stereotypes to maintain or uphold or even categories ourselves. We are literally just people. I love my makeup and my dresses just as much as I love to headbang at concerts and desire tattoos. I love my heels, sandals and wedges as much as I love my chucks, sneakers and vans. I'm not choosing a side because I shouldn't be made to "choose a side." This isn't Star Wars or any other movie or a smart phone - this is me, this is my life and these are the lives of everyone else who identifies as a woman. I am and we are so much more than one descriptor word or category. I refuse to label myself as one thing or another, but moreover, I refuse to let myself be labeled by other people that way either.
Frankly, if you're a person who believes women should be a "this or a "that," or you're surprised by the fact that women could do and be more than just the one thing you labeled them as, you should try doing something for yourself. It's called being well-rounded.
