Thursday 13 November 2014

Someone please fix the internet.

I had a conversation about this topic with some of my lady chums the other day, so to avoid being misunderstood I think I need to make some things clear about my position before I proceed.

1. I am not jealous of Kim Kardashian
2. I do not dislike Kim Kardashian
3. I do not think mothers can't be sexual beings
4. I think Kim is a beautiful woman

Now that that's out of the way let's talk about those photos. Those photos that showed a cartoonish derriere attached to half of the body of a woman with Kim Kardashian's face. She's like a centaur, but instead of being cross-bred with a powerful horse, she's genetically a half sequined tablecloth.

If you want to learn more about objectifying images I recommend watching Caroline Heldman's TED talk here. She's got a very easy checklist you can follow to determine whether or not you are looking at an objectifying image. She emphasizes that if the whole of the person is not displayed in a commercial image, they are not being viewed as an actual person. They are just choice exposed parts. Usually a woman's exposed parts to sell shit. Cars, cigarettes, magazines. In Kim's case, she is presented as no more than her giant, photoshopped ass, which is being used to sell shit-loads of issues of Paper. What's not to smile about? So much.

In my earlier conversation, it became abundantly clear that people feel like those Kim Kardashian photos are harmless. That she's just "owning her sexuality." I say she's not. If she were owning her sexuality, if she were owning anything, even her own body, those photos would not be as retouched and Photoshopped as they are. Just like the rest of us, Kim Kardashian probably hates her body. But it's her one commodity, so she's happy to let other people manipulate it, exploit it and warp it in ways that make the rest of us feel the need to warp our own bodies in return.

I hate the policing of other women's bodies, so I won't do that. I'll police the selling of unattainable, unnatural bodies as reality. We are bombarded every second of every day with images telling us who to be and how to look. If you think you're unaffected, you're delusional. If you think these pictures won't one day affect your children, you're delusional. These photos are at best creating an unrealistic idea of beauty for your children. Both sons and daughters.

Between songs about "skinny bitches" and "big booties." Between Meghan Trainor trying to be retro and J-Lo trying to be relevant we are a society obsessed with sending mixed messages to women about our bodies. Be skinny! No fuck skinny, get a fat ass, but still stay skinny! Wait...you gotta get some bass in your treble. What the fuck does that even mean? And why the hell are we putting ourselves through all this bullshit? So someone else can use our body to make a buck. I'd like to mention that Kim didn't even get paid for this shoot. Her desperation to work with the photographer meant that she earned not a penny for the photos that are currently selling millions of magazines. Sad face.

In other news Kim Kardashian's naked ass has repercussions beyond totally skewing your body image. Maybe white America can't see that it affects not just white America, but I can tell you it does. Using a woman's naked body to sell a product is wrong and I'll tell you why: It sends a really dangerous message about who a woman is. Don't believe me? Think I'm overreacting? Pack your bags and get on a plane. There's a whole wide world of misogyny out there beyond the 50 states.

Those photos will ultimately contribute to the overall impression the international community has about me as a woman. These kind of photos are part of the reason I got my breasts grabbed on the bus, the reason that a man with a motorbike hit me hard enough to knock me onto the road and then got off his bike to feel me up. Even the reason I witnessed another woman being harassed into oblivion last weekend on a train from Scotland.

As much as I am a fan of naked bodies and I think we should get them out more often, we should not be using them to peddle goods. We're better than that. The over-sexualization of women to sell products is harmful. It trivializes our sexuality and sends the very dangerous message that everything is for sale.

Please understand that I'm in no way saying that this is right. I just know it's true. I know that a recent influx of porn, easier access to the internet and newly imported shows like The Real Housewives franchise and Keeping Up With The Kardashians has helped to mold the preconceptions international men have of me. The color of my skin coupled with my accent is a flashing red sign above my head saying "fuck me" "touch me" "buy me." And it's fucking scary.

These latest Kardashian photos are not good for anyone but Paper's bank balance. Kim's naked body is helping someone else to get rich. They are not contributing to the empowerment of women, at best they are contributing to a conversation that I would be more inclined to engage in if these photos were being hung in a gallery. They didn't even contribute to her yearly income. One thing I know that these photos will do for sure, is continue to propagate the segregation and victimization of women internationally. 

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