By Shiraz Rimer, Year 11
The Kardashians. You may hate them, you maybe love them. One thing is certain: they are influential. So influential that when Kylie Jenner tweets something negative about Snapchat, their stock plummets. So influential that when Kim Kardashian posts a naked picture on social media she “breaks the internet”.
In response to negative backlash to her various nudes, Kim K says she is empowered by her body and her sexuality. But is this really what feminist empowerment is? I was reading an article the other day about the thin line between empowering women and objectifying them. It said that the society we live in leads us to believe that our bodies and faces are what determines our worth. It then said that there are two types of people fighting against this: the people who are fighting for women to be valued as more than bodies to view and those who are fighting for more women’s bodies to be viewed as valuable. So can someone who’s brand is focused on their appearance be called a feminist?
The latter group wants to change people’s perceptions about what is beautiful. One could argue this is what the Kardashians try to do. They want to erase unrealistic beauty standards in order to fight body shame (but then again, aren’t they the one’s setting the unrealistic beauty standards..?). But when one promote body positivity in the way the Kardashians do, isn’t one consequently perpetuating the belief that the most important thing about women is their bodies? Is that wrong and is it wrong that young girls look up to women who are only famous for their curves?
On the one hand, who cares right? Shouldn’t they be free to live their lives and post whatever they want. Shouldn’t we be happy that they are promoting a healthier body shape rather than skin and bones? Shouldn’t women have the right to be liberated and comfortable in their own skin?
But, isn’t it wrong to give so much importance to one’s appearance? Is all that matters on the outside? Isn’t posting naked pictures for millions of people to see objectifying women? Is that all a woman really is? Should a woman be judged or labelled a “whore” for wearing provocative clothing or should we teach men (and arguably women) to stop sexualizing women’s bodies? Is a woman ever really “asking for it”?
Personally, I feel that respecting a woman’s intellect, her sense of humour, her personality and achievements is much healthier. The fact is, I don’t have the answers to any of these questions and I don’t want to walk around with a holier-than-thou attitude saying one opinion is right and the other is wrong. But, by all means if you do want to discuss and share your opinions on such issues, you should come to WeForShe on Thursdays at morning break in Ms. Oberai’s classroom (Chateau).
I hope to see YOU there and hear what you have to say.
