Kim’s nude selfies: selling or protest?
US reality star and selfie-queen Kim Kardashian has posted another nude picture — bringing the total number of pictures exposing herself to a reported 53.
She’s roped in model Emily Ratajkowski for a topless selfie posted to 66 million Instagram followers on March 30.
While she claims it’s all in the name of women’s liberation and positive body image, the post has infuriated feminists, who have dismissed Kardashian’s many displays of nudity in recent months as “cheap marketing”.
They are saying nudity online objectifies women’s bodies and encourages violence against them. But supporters believe female nudity is actually a powerful mode of protest.
Dr Shakila Singh, a senior lecturer in gender education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said: “Female nudity can be a powerful mode of protest against patriarchy. We know that in the media, women are held to higher standards of behaviour than men. Posting nude pictures may be meant as a shock tactic, a means through which women reclaim their bodies and display pride in the female form.
“Some may say in the case of Kim Kardashian it is about sexualisation and maintaining hierarchies such as class, age and body shape. Then it is about playing into the very patriarchal patterns that we should be disrupting,” Singh said.
“Either way, there is no excuse for violence against women. We should never look for ways to hold women responsible for atrocities against them.”
Sikhonzile Ndlovu of Gender Links said while nude pictures may seem “a way of free expression and liberty for women, they play into centuries-old stereotypes and objectification of women’s bodies”.
Mbuyiselo Botha of Sonke Gender Justice said Kardashian’s nudity sent the wrong message that “women’s bodies are readily available. This is unacceptable, especially in a world that continuously violates women.”