Zoella and Kimmy K- what's the difference?
Unless you spend your life far away from social media, you'll have seen the 'outrageous' nude photo from Kim Kardashian a couple of weeks ago, and the 'outrageous' photo of Zoella that featured the top of her pants that appeared earlier on this week.
You can read more about the Kim selfie HERE. Long story short, it was a full body, nude shot with a black strip edited on to cover her vagina and nipples. Essentially, she was showing as much skin as she does when she wears a skimpy bikini. As a result of posting this selfie to her social media, she was subject to harsh comments, verbal abuse and criticism.
Earlier on this week, Zoella posted a photo on social media site Snapchat, featuring herself lying in bed in a t-shirt and a pair of oh so popular Calvin Klein pants- of which you could only see the top, branded band, give or take a few millimetres. Whilst she got crticised and sexualised by numerous media outlets, she had a whole tribe of people- mostly her fans- creating a movement for her, using the hashtag #WeStandWithZoe
Now, this is great of course. Standing up against the sexualisation of a girl in her jim jams (or her version of jim jams- whatever) and against the sexism from media outlets such as The Daily Mail is amazing, and definitely something that needs to be done when situations like this arise.
Do you know what isn't great?
That the same wasn't done for Kim.
Why can we support and stand up for one woman and be against sexualising her body and her clothing choices, but we can only tear down another? What is the difference?
When it comes down to it, you couldn't see anything inappropriate in Kim Kardashian's selfie. Everything 'inappropriate' was covered with a black strip. And as I've said before, she shows about the same amount of skin in many of her photo shoots and in her skimpy bikinis...so what is the difference in a selfie of the same style? Whilst the two selfies from Zoe and Kim are undoubtedly very different, the core issue is still the same- people can not and will not support a woman making powerful choices about her own body. People will drag her down and tell her that she is wrong, that she shouldn't be doing what she is doing with her own body.
So what if you can see Zoe's pants? So what if you can see 90% of Kim's body? Who really cares? They're in charge of their own bodies and they can do exactly what they like with it. It's entirely their choice.
But the biggest question of all is why did we create a movement of support for one of these women and not the other?
What is the difference between the two women? Both have a huge social media following, both are highly influential, particularly on young women. So what is the difference between the two? Why did people choose to support one woman but drag another?
As I've already said, both selfies were indeed different but the message is the same- they are in charge of their own bodies and can do as they please, and should be able to do so without being sexualised, least of all be criticised for it! I find it incredibly sad that people pick and choose who is doing right and wrong with their bodies and that we pick and choose who is worthy of a movement of support whilst the other is left to be abused by people across the globe.
It's wrong. That's all there is to it. We should support all women and the choices that they make about their bodies. They are in charge of it and so therefore the decisions they make about it. And we should support their empowerment and their decisions- regardless of whether we agree with what they're doing or whether we'd do it ourselves. We should support their strength and encourage their self love and confidence.
When it comes to our bodies, we are in charge, and we can do with them as we please. We can look how we like, dress how we like, show what we like. It's up to us, and no one deserves abuse for their decisions.
What do you think about the movement of support for Zoella and the hate that Kim received? Let me know in the comments below!
Love from,
Florence Grace
Like this? Why not try... Does your body empower you? | Teenage body image- my battle
You can read more about the Kim selfie HERE. Long story short, it was a full body, nude shot with a black strip edited on to cover her vagina and nipples. Essentially, she was showing as much skin as she does when she wears a skimpy bikini. As a result of posting this selfie to her social media, she was subject to harsh comments, verbal abuse and criticism.
Earlier on this week, Zoella posted a photo on social media site Snapchat, featuring herself lying in bed in a t-shirt and a pair of oh so popular Calvin Klein pants- of which you could only see the top, branded band, give or take a few millimetres. Whilst she got crticised and sexualised by numerous media outlets, she had a whole tribe of people- mostly her fans- creating a movement for her, using the hashtag #WeStandWithZoe
Now, this is great of course. Standing up against the sexualisation of a girl in her jim jams (or her version of jim jams- whatever) and against the sexism from media outlets such as The Daily Mail is amazing, and definitely something that needs to be done when situations like this arise.
Do you know what isn't great?
That the same wasn't done for Kim.
Why can we support and stand up for one woman and be against sexualising her body and her clothing choices, but we can only tear down another? What is the difference?
When it comes down to it, you couldn't see anything inappropriate in Kim Kardashian's selfie. Everything 'inappropriate' was covered with a black strip. And as I've said before, she shows about the same amount of skin in many of her photo shoots and in her skimpy bikinis...so what is the difference in a selfie of the same style? Whilst the two selfies from Zoe and Kim are undoubtedly very different, the core issue is still the same- people can not and will not support a woman making powerful choices about her own body. People will drag her down and tell her that she is wrong, that she shouldn't be doing what she is doing with her own body.
So what if you can see Zoe's pants? So what if you can see 90% of Kim's body? Who really cares? They're in charge of their own bodies and they can do exactly what they like with it. It's entirely their choice.
But the biggest question of all is why did we create a movement of support for one of these women and not the other?
What is the difference between the two women? Both have a huge social media following, both are highly influential, particularly on young women. So what is the difference between the two? Why did people choose to support one woman but drag another?
As I've already said, both selfies were indeed different but the message is the same- they are in charge of their own bodies and can do as they please, and should be able to do so without being sexualised, least of all be criticised for it! I find it incredibly sad that people pick and choose who is doing right and wrong with their bodies and that we pick and choose who is worthy of a movement of support whilst the other is left to be abused by people across the globe.
It's wrong. That's all there is to it. We should support all women and the choices that they make about their bodies. They are in charge of it and so therefore the decisions they make about it. And we should support their empowerment and their decisions- regardless of whether we agree with what they're doing or whether we'd do it ourselves. We should support their strength and encourage their self love and confidence.
When it comes to our bodies, we are in charge, and we can do with them as we please. We can look how we like, dress how we like, show what we like. It's up to us, and no one deserves abuse for their decisions.
What do you think about the movement of support for Zoella and the hate that Kim received? Let me know in the comments below!
Love from,
Florence Grace
Like this? Why not try... Does your body empower you? | Teenage body image- my battle
I agree, there should be support for all women, one can't just pick and choose who to support when in comes to empowering women.
ReplyDeleteChichi
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