Kim K. reveals personal motherhood style

KENDRA RUDD-GLOSTER | CONTRIBUTOR

Kim Kardashian. Whether you love her or hate her, you probably know who she is. She is an entrepreneur, a television personality, a wife, a mother, a sister, and a daughter. If you don’t know Kim from her reality TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, you definitely know her from  social media. After hearing chatter on campus about Kardashian and her latest Instagram scandal from both students and professors, I think the issue of women and body image needs to be addressed.

Last month, the mother of two posted a nude selfie on Instagram sending the world into a social media frenzy. Not a stranger to controversy, Kardashian captioned the photo “When you’re like I have nothing to wear LOL,” showing the world her sense of humor.

Sophomore Trynitee Lombard was completely unsurprised by the picture.

“Honestly, I expect this kind of thing from her,” Lombard said. “That’s just Kim being Kim. In the words of DJ Khaled, ‘another one.’”

Despite receiving over 1.6 million likes on Instagram, the photo was met with a lot of backlash by fans and non-supporters alike. A few celebrities took to Twitter to express their opinions. Actress Chloe Grace-Moretz tweeted to Kardashian, “I truly hope you realize how important setting goals are for young women, teaching them we have so much more to offer than just our bodies.”

Singer Pink also had an opinion to share in an open letter that she posted on Twitter. She began by applauding women who use their brains, strength, work ethic, talent, and magic that they were naturally given rather than using their bodies for attention.

Regardless of how you feel about the actual photo, I believe that Kardashian deserves a dose of gratitude for constantly calling attention to an issue that many would rather brush under the rug. Women should be comfortable enough to embrace their bodies and to express their sexuality in the way that they would like to.

Sophomore Jawara Mills thinks the structure of our society is to blame for all of the controversy surrounding the nude picture.

“I get why the picture is controversial, but men do it all the time,” Mills said. “You see pictures of shirtless men everywhere you go, but when it comes to women, they are scrutinized a lot more. Unfortunately that’s just the way society works.”

There’s no doubt that we live in a society where sex sells and women’s bodies are constantly sexualized. However, with this being the case, I believe it should be completely fine for a woman to take charge and display her body however she wishes.

For some students, the frustration stems from the fact that Kardashian is a mother of two. Some think that her actions are not providing the image of a positive role model for her children.

Junior Korey Bowles questions the combination of embracing sexuality and motherhood.

“I believe publicly embracing your sexuality is quite a courageous thing to do and is left to the discretion of every individual’s good judgement,” Bowles said. “But, it is less suitable for a mother to do so in such a manner.”

Sophomore Adriana Hatch also brought Kardashian’s children into the picture.

“I would just like ask Kardashian how she would feel if it were her daughter’s naked picture all over social media,” Hatch said.

While this is an understandable concern, I would argue that Kardashian is actually being a positive role model, in that her daughter will grow up knowing that it is completely acceptable for her to embrace her body.

I personally do not believe that anyone has the right to tell someone what they can and can’t do with their bodies — or their social media, for that matter. A woman’s body is her property and she is the sole decision maker when it comes whether she wants to display it. Women should not be criticized for making any decision about their bodies.

Sure, seeing naked bodies all over our Instagram feeds would be a bit strange, and I don’t think that constant nude selfies are necessarily the way to go. But, I do believe that on an occasion that a woman is brave enough to embrace her body, we should applaud her.