Recently, Kim Kardashian posted a risqué selfie on her instagram page and let me tell you it did not go by unnoticed. Many fans and celebrities were quick to attack her while others rushed to her defense on Twitter and even posted their own selfies. Celebrities like Amber Rose, Emily Ratajkowski and Ariel Winter all felt that Kim was empowering women and supported her for being comfortable in her own skin. However, it is Kim Kardashian we are talking about it here; it is not a secret to anyone that she is unapologetically obsessed with herself. Was her selfie really posted to "empower women" or was it just a hot picture she liked and wanted to share with the world to break the internet a second time?
Personally, I don't think sharing a sexual selfie is the way to go about empowering women and I really don't believe that was Kim's intentions. The caption of her Instagram post was, "When you're like I have nothing to wear LOL." The people rushing to her defense saying she was showing women how to be confident and she wants to inspire girls not to be ashamed of themselves is bull****. She posted the picture to show off her body (which I won't deny it, she's hot), but I don't think she was thinking about her fans and hoping this would empower them as women. Maybe she would've posted a real caption if that was the case instead of saying she has nothing to wear when really her closet is probably the size of my bedroom. The picture was also taken before she was pregnant so it wasn't inspiring that she was posting a picture to show how confident she was after giving birth.
I am not in anyway saying women should be ashamed of their bodies, but I don't think they need to be posing nude to prove they're comfortable with themselves. I complain about my body every once in awhile, but overall I am comfortable with the way I look. However, that doesn't mean I am going to broadcast that across the Internet with a censored nude.
If we want to send a positive message to young girls and other people who look up to this celebrities there are much better ways to empower them. Maybe broadcast your hard work and show them that. A lot of people bash the Kardashians for having no talent and although they didn't rise to fame by any normal means, they do work hard to keep their success. Kim knows how to make money and it goes unnoticed because all the talk is about her nude selfies and sex tape. She could help change the narrative surrounding her and help inspire young women by emphasizing her handwork and success instead of her body.
Women and young girls should own their bodies and should be comfortable in their own skin, but there are legitimate ways to influence that. Posting a sexy Instagram with makeup on in your nice bathroom saying you have "nothing to wear LOL" is not the way to influence young women. So, kudos to the celebrities fighting for equal rights, sharing their handwork and success, fighting back against edited photoshoots, etc. You don't have to do something drastic, even the celebrities that show their fans the real them without makeup and show everyone that they're not exactly how the media portrays them are doing a lot more than Kim. So, embrace your looks and feel good about yourself, but nude photos are not necessary to prove that.