Body shaming

One of the issues surrounding women is what is commonly known as 'body shaming' and 'slut shaming' - recently, there was a picture (i.e. selfie) Kim Kardashian took of herself.  But it wasn't just a selfie - it was a bathroom selfie of her naked.

No doubt, the picture has caused alot of controversy, especially because it was posted around the same time as International Women's Day.  The picture has attracted a few comments from Bette Midler, Who said "If Kim wants us to see a part of her we've never seen, she's gonna have to swallow the camera."  Another celebrity, Piers Morgan, stated, "I know the old man's $50 million in debt, Kim - but this is absurd. Want me to buy you some clothes?"
Of course, I saw the funny side to that remark, but obviously Ms Kardashian doesn't.  Instead, she saw it as 'body shaming' and hit back saying she was not ashamed of her body.
Kim Kardashian is over body shaming
Kim Kardashian and body shaming

She even went as far to say that it was 'empowering' and that she was this, that, a role model etc etc. Maybe that's true.  Maybe not.  But anyway, someone like this, who is in the public eye all the time like she is, well they are a 'role model' albeit a controversial one, just like Ilona (the Italian porn-star turned politician) - the same woman who was the subject of a Bulldozer track, 'Ilona the Very Best' (of course, I won't go into all the things that woman does, but certainly she has attracted the same attention and in the same way) 

Despite what I have heard about the Kardashians, I don't know much about them at all, but if there's anything 'empowering' about taking a nude selfie, it would be:

• The 'power' to shock others;
• The 'power' to make other people jealous;
• The 'power' to get attention;
• The 'power' to make others sexually aroused;

And most of all:

• The 'power' to 'break the Internet'.

In all seriousness, though, having 'power' (or doing something 'empowering') means *accepting responsibility* for one's actions - and in her case, it means that if you are going to do something like this, you have to expect a reaction.

But then again, maybe she did get what she wants - attention.  And getting attention means taking the good with the bad - with her, it means the negative attention as well as the positive.  And it means having a 'thick skin' if you are in the public eye, not just doing something like that and then getting upset when people do make jokes about it (I have read the comments about it and I have found no evidence of either actual body- or slut-shaming myself, just a few jokes about the picture.  In fact, I thought her reactions were worse).

Take away that attention, and you take away the 'power' she has over people.  In other words, perhaps if we don't support the paparazzi who take pictures, buy the publications that publish them, and pay no attention, then maybe that sort of thing won't be so 'empowering' after all.

Or, alternatively, she might just be the USA's own 'Ilona' should she decide to run for parliament :)

Or, either that, do something *even more* empowering, like charity work or something really worth *boasting* about, something worthy of the 'success' she is having.  That is where the real power lies.

cheers,
Night Owl