Hey Sweeties,
During Blogmas 2014, I wrote a post on Elle Magazine’s Confidence issue that featured Kim Kardashian-West (here). While I admitted that I was sceptical of Kim making the cover, I also spoke openly that underneath I could see a business woman making decisions she felt were right for her at the time, and I could respect that.
“The interview with Kim was the first thing I jumped to, suppressing my scepticism as I read through it and fundamentally the piece discusses Kim; the subject she knows and loves best. But I liked it. The woman we now see in the media and pushing her way to the front row at Fashion Week is the woman she has strived to be for years. It’s difficult for the likes of you and me to feel confident and successful because we’re still journeying to the place someone like Kim has now reached.”
Are We Bored of the Kardashians?
The Kardashian family have always divided opinion and that is one of the main reasons they are one of America’s most fascinating families, even if you hate them, you love to hate them and will still go out of your way to scorn at the latest story about them in Heat magazine. Since Kim’s appearance in Elle, the Kardashians really have had a roller coaster of a time trying to maintain a stable image in the media, particularly since Bruce became Caitlyn (read my post about Caitlyn here); Kourtney’s relationship with Scott Disick finally broke down; and Lamar Odom OD’d. Alongside this, Kendall has continued to storm the runway; Kylie continues to drive her fans wild on Instagram and has released a collection of lip products; Khloe now lives in the gym and has released a book; Kourtney is now rumoured to be dating Justin Bieber (let’s not even go there); and Kim’s latest thing is to pose naked in the mirror apparently claiming she’s #liberated and “has nothing to wear.”
A feminist divided
I really do stand divided on the whole naked selfie thing, I really do. My stand on feminism has me sat on the fence where on one side I totally think Playboy magazine is okay and if that’s what a woman wants to do then she should do it (I elaborate here), but on the other side I shake my head when I see a woman either portray herself or women be portrayed (i.e. in films) cheaply which often involves nudity and/or a terrible choice of attire. I also really cannot stand shows like The Only Way is Essex, Made in Chelsea and Geordie Shore where the girls act dumb and/or can only talk about men. I enjoy Take Me Out but even then I face palm when some of the girls really don’t do themselves any favours. So while I back Kim Kardashian-West’s feeling of empowerment by posing naked and uploading it to Instagram, I also have to agree with the likes of P!nk who respond by saying:
The naked truth
But let’s put it this way, we haven’t got a problem with the picture, we’ve got a problem because it’s a naked picture of Kim Kardashian-West. If Adelle suddenly posed naked and captioned it “empowering curvy women” (for example), everyone would be going totally nuts for it and asking how more amazing can Adelle possibly get? But we’re not doing the same for Kim, something inside us says for us not to and that we can’t be seen to be giving in to her need for attention. I’d say I’m not in that boat but then Kim’s antics has inspired another blog post so really I can’t complain here.
“I’m an Armenian girl, I have shape, and it turned out people liked that. That makes me feel good about myself and about other women being so supportive. I am a confident woman, but I didn’t just arrive confident -it has built over the years and that is a big part of who I am now” (Kim Kardashian, January Elle 2015, p134).
So what are your thoughts? Where do you stand on Kim’s naked selfie?
Until next time x
