Let's Talk About Kim's Butt Some More

It seems like whenever female celebrities take nude photos, privately or publicly, the world simply loses their minds and gets their cotton knickers all in a bunch. Female nudes are fabulous and feminist. However, I believe Kim Kardashian's recent nude photo shoot is about a little bit more than nudity and there are some aspects of the photos and the discussions around them that I don't agree with. So for my official contribution to the great Kim K debate, I offer what I think her nude photo shoot IS and IS NOT about.

1. It's NOT about motherhood

This has got to be the most ignorant argument that I've seen against Kim and her photos. People are freaking out because she's a mother and being a mother apparently means you automatically get stripped of all sexuality and never get to be viewed in a sexual way ever again. Yo, like how do you think she became a mother? This wild virgin-mother complex that we enforce on women is absurd. Mothers are supposed to be viewed as virginly. THAT IS NOT BIOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE YOU TWATS.

And for the people that argue this is going to be detrimental and a bad influence on North West, she is going to grow up and after the horrific experience of 6th grade sex ed, she will know that her mother in fact DOES have a vagina and HAS had intercourse and IS a sexual individual. SHOCKER. Wow maybe this child will grow up and not be weirdly taboo and shy about sex, maybe she will be confident with her sexuality and not shame other girls for doing the same.

This woman is celebrating her body which looks bitchin after having a child. Get over it.

2. It's NOT about money

There's a lot of Twitter shade being thrown that is defending Kim because she got paid to do this nude photo shoot...but in doing so, these Twitter-shade-throwers are also shaming other women that don't get paid for nudes. They are shaming women that send nudes to significant others, that take them for themselves, that have them on their personal phone for any personal reason and get personally violated when they're hacked...

On the flip side, there are people shaming Kim for "selling her body" and for the love of all that is holy, are we really equating nude photo shoots to slavery or serfdom? Kim has total autonomy over her body and this is what she chooses to do with it. It probably is empowering for her. No one gives a rat's ass if it's not empowering for you, as well.

No one SELLS their body. Not prostitutes. Not strippers. No one. Women sell their time, their abilities, their experience, their aesthetic. But there is never a moment that a women is selling her body...unless it's like black market organ stuff?

3. IS about body policing

Everyone needs to get over the seemingly ~*~radddical~*~ idea that women should have complete right over their own body. I'm not advocating for our rights to go streaking in children's parks in broad day light, but I will have my right to take nudes without my integrity or character questioned.

Society sexualizes every aspect of women in songs, advertising, movies, etc. but the second a woman does it to herself all bigoted-narrow-minded-shit hits the fan. A woman showing skin on her own or for herself is not the automatic green light to start judging her character or talent. Repeat after me: "Skin =/= character". And if you don't believe that then god have mercy on your soul because your are directly trying to police the way women expose or cover their bodies and directly stating that a woman's worth is always tied to her body and there is a special hell in the 9th circle of Dante's Inferno for you, my friend.

Let a lady be naked. It's just skin. It's just a booty. Stop trying to control what women do with their bodies because it makes your conservative pathetic little mind uncomfortable.

4. IS about race

So yes, one of Kim's photos was recycled from a photo in a book titled "Jungle Fever" and reeks of a history of turning black women into sexual objects, which is all very problematic and makes everyone uncomfortable.

But check it out, we have 2 Live Crew and Sir Mix-a-Lot rapping about large butts on black women in the very early 90s. The social acceptance and sexual praise for large butts came straight from rap culture and was all in reference to black women. So Kim is perpetuating the fetishization of black women and reducing black women to body parts (specifically the booty) much like rappers do. Also, one could argue that it's slight cultural appropriation because Kim is Armenian American with no black heritage.

So cool, a not-black-woman does a border-line racist photo shoot that highlights her majestic ass. Fine. But what happens when ACTUAL black women do this? Remember Nicki Minaj's Anaconda single cover? Nicki, who is Afro-Trinidadian, who is choosing to have control over how her body and booty is viewed, got shamed and called trashy.  Whereas, when Kim poses with quirky faces so it's all fun and cute rather than shamed for being "trashy". So yeah, this is about race.

So next time you see some consenting nudes in the web-o-sphere, if it's not racist, fucking praise that ish! Nothing else. Just say "Glory hallelujah here's another confident woman who is comfortable in her body and with her sexuality and even if I'm not super comfortable in le nude, I respect her for doing her, in Jesus name, amen!"