Sharing a practically nude photo of yourself when you have about 65.3 million Instagram followers might seem crazy to some people, but it’s just a small part of an ordinary day if you’re Kim Kardashian.
Stripping it all off for the camera isn’t anything new for the 35-year-old reality TV star and mother of two. In an issue of Paper magazine from November 2014, Kardashian was showcased with her bare behind on the cover and a full-frontal shot inside went viral in a matter of hours.
When you have such a large number of followers, it’s safe to say you’re someone who captures the interest of many people, and having the ability to connect with such a large audience with the touch of a finger is certainly a powerful position to be in. When you’re reaching an audience of that magnitude, different voices will be heard. You can’t please everyone, so criticism is to be expected.
Among the hundreds of selfies, Instagram users can see posts about her Kim Kardashian app, Kimojis and her video game. They can also find videos of her daughter North, birthday shout outs to friends and family and an endless supply #tbt and #fbf posts, each racking up hundreds of thousands of responses within hours.
Kardashian shared the first image of her baby Saint’s face with the world February 22, a video from her first date with Kanye West a week later and a naked selfie March 7, with perfectly positioned black rectangles covering just enough of her body. The photo was captioned, “When you’re like I have nothing to wear LOL.”
I’m not surprised users fired back almost immediately, and buzz surrounding the photo exploded on social media. After 30 minutes of reading the comments, I only made it through a small portion of the 325,839 comments on her nude selfie. From what I saw, there seemed to be a strong divide among her followers. One side applauds Kim for showing skin and choosing to post things people might see as inappropriate.
One Instagram user said, “Lovely body YOU have. It’s yours. Do whatever You want.”
Some users took a more aggressive tone. Some commented, “I wonder what you’re hiding..we’ve seen it all,” “That’s disgusting. You’re a mother. You’re supposed to be a role model for your children,” and “What kind of example are you setting for them with this picture?”
Reference to Kardashian being a mother seemed to be a strong trend, but there seems to be a separation in this group as well. Some mothers support her for being proud of her post-baby bod and others, well, didn’t react so nicely. Some mothers thought that Kardashian was setting a bad example for her children by sharing such a personal photo with her followers.
Some commenters brought up interesting arguments by pointing out a possible double-standard.
“When Justin Bieber posted a picture of his butt people said things like “turn around” but when Kim posts things they are inappropriate?” a user said.
Sadly that post didn’t receive many responses.
Overall, the reactions were evenly stacked. In a situation like this, there is no right or wrong. The fact is, Kardashian has the same freedoms and rights every other citizen of the United States. She’s free to wear whatever, say whatever and post whatever she wants on her Instagram account. If you have an issue with what Kardashian posts, you don’t have to look at them. A great feature of social media is that, unlike real life, you can simply “unfollow” someone and within seconds you’ll never see their posts again.
Email Madison Winters at madison.winters@cardinalpointsonline.com
