About women and their bodies

So, apparently, Kim Kardashian posted some nude pics of herself on her social media accounts.

And of course, a shrieking chorus of women who bizarrely think of themselves as feminists have been clamoring all over each other to grab the low-hanging fruit that is slut-shaming her for it. Oh how disgusting. She is just a dumb bimbo. What kind of role model is she?

As if it’s any of their business! In case you haven’t noticed, ladies, freedom for women includes freedom to do things you do not like. Freedom to be a slut, a whore, a bimbo, a plaything. Freedom to be a housebound housewife if she wants to, or to be submissive towards men, or to give away her “favours” to random strangers who happen to pass by. Freedom to use her sexuality without fear and without shame and without worrying what her supposed “sisters” will think.

After all, this is democracy, not society by consensus. You don’t have the right to tell KK what to do. How would you like some bossy woman telling YOU what you can wear and how you can dress (or undress)?

Oh right, that already exists in the world. It’s called the burka, and I am pretty sure most lady feminists are against it. By fearlessly baring all she has in defiance of patriarchal modesty rules, KK is doing the exact opposite of the burka. She is saying she can do whatever the hell she wants with her body, and no man OR woman has the right to tell her otherwise.

By trying to shame her into conforming to your idea of what a proper lady should do, you are doing the patriarchy’s work for it. The whole notion of a slut is based on the idea that a woman’s sexuality is a commodity to be traded instead of a vital and important part of a women’s life. To slut-shame is to not just validate this chattel property view of women’s society, but to verify that woman’s bodies are, indeed, disgusting and shameful and horrible and therefore for a woman to let people see them is a horrible thing to do that causes you to question the sanity and intelligence of the woman doing it.

Goddamn it, didn’t you ladies see The Vagina Monologues? Didn’t you get the message that cunts are awesome and nothing to be ashamed of?

But no, it’s so easy to jump on the hate filled bandwagon and sternly tsk tsk KK for daring to lower the value of access to their vagina by raising the possibility of getting it for free.

And if you have any urge to tell me any variation on “well why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free”, I have two things to say.
1. Women are not cows.
2. Women are not for sale.

People say that women who pose naked must have low self-esteem. How fucking dare these people presume to know that about someone! Maybe KK has amazing self-esteem. Maybe her self-esteem is so high that she loves herself despite your attempts to destroy her. Maybe she is so empowered and confidant that she doesn’t give a damn what people like you think. Maybe the fact that she is willing and able to completely defy what she is “supposed” to do by society means she is is a strong, bold, fierce woman who is actually a wonderful role model for girls.

Maybe it means that she’s a better feminist than you are.

Because let me make this clear : feminists don’t slut-shame. Ever. All forms of slut-shame are profoundly anti-woman and anti-feminist. It makes women ashamed of their bodies, ashamed of their own sexuality, and ashamed of displaying their gender at all. It tells women that their bodies are not, in fact, their own, but subject to the approval of the patriarchy, and they alone shall dictate when and how women are allowed to use their sexuality.

The fact that women are still worried that people will think they are a slut infuriates me. What, are you worried that some man (or woman if you’re a dyke) won’t be willing to “pay” enough for sex with you if everyone knows you give it away for free? Can’t you see what a disgusting line of reasoning that is?

I consider myself a feminist (also a masculinist) and I passionately believe that women have the same rights as men and should be treated with equal respect and dignity. Yet if a male celebrity did this, nobody would be calling him a slut or a whore or a bimbo. The worst he would be called is pervert, and while that word still (for some reason) holds a lot of power, it doesn’t hold a candle to “slut”. To call another woman a slut is to negate her entire worth. to say that she is nothing if her chattel value is negated.

And that is not and cannot be a feminist act. It’s a patriarchal act, enlisting women in their own subjugation by making them fiercely monitor one another’s standards of modesty. A true feminist would defend a woman’s right to do whatever she chooses, whether it’s to pose in the nude, dress from head to toe in satin, or blow ten dudes on live TV.

The very idea that a woman is demeaning herself by letting people see her nude sends a very body-negative message to young girls. Men aren’t considered demeaned by their nudity. Why should a woman?

So to any woman who reads this, I ask you to think about this : is there another circumstance where you would feel comfortable cutting down another woman’s self-esteem so casually and viciously? Are you fine with the idea that a woman is subject to rules and restrictions that emphatically do not apply to men? Is that kind of sexism “feminist” to you? If KK was to be raped now, would you say she deserved it?

And if so…. are you willing to let other women judge you by the same standards?

Because remember, no matter how modestly you dress, if it is anything less than being sewn into a sack, there is someone in this world who would consider you a worthless slut.

And you know they’re wrong…. right?

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