Kim Kardashian’s Nude Selfie Mural Art Defaced By Slut-Shaming Graffiti
A huge piece of mural art in Melbourne drew the attention of netizens on Monday, giving new spark to the raging debate over feminism, specifically on how it relates to female empowerment and slut-shaming. The mural art is a depiction of Kim Kardashian’s nude selfie, which broke the internet last week.
A new incident concerning the Kardashian mural, however, put an ironic twist to the debate. A day after it appeared, the mural was defaced with the words “slut” written over it. Considering the context of the art in question and the online furor raised following Kim Kardashian’s nude selfie, the act has been called out not just for vandalism but also for slut-shaming.
The artist who painted the mural art, Lushsux, took a photo of his defaced work and posted it on Instagram, captioning it with “Andddd this is why we can’t have nice things @kimkardashian”
“I’m bummed that people didn’t get more of a chance to interact with it and that someone felt the dire need to spray ‘SLUT’ across it,” Lushsux told Buzzfeed News.
Lushsux told Pedestrian.tv said that he felt the urge to paint Kim Kardashian’s nude selfie when he saw it on Instagram.
“I instantly had the need to paint it when I saw it on her Instagram, in public, on a three-story high building. Maybe I’m as much of an attention seeker as she is?” Lushsux said.
The 30-foot mural was painted on a tall building in Cremorne, a suburb of Melbourne. The piece of mural art was reportedly spotted by a local worker. Offended by the Kim Kardashian mural, the local worker alerted local radio station 3 AW to its existence. Before long, the photo of the two-story mural art had gone viral on the internet.
Kim Kardashian has been receiving a lot of criticism; not just from netizens but also from fellow celebrities of late. Bette Middler led the way, tweeting, “If Kim wants us to see a part of her we’ve never seen, she’s gonna have to swallow the camera.”
Kim Kardashian tweeted a nude selfie today. If Kim wants us to see a part of her we've never seen,
she's gonna have to swallow the camera.— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) March 7, 2016
Chloë Grace Moretz also joined the fray by tweeting, “I truly hope you realize how important setting goals are for young women, teaching them we have so much more to offer than our bodies.”
@KimKardashian I truly hope you realize how important setting goals are for young women, teaching them we have so much more to offer than-
— Chloë Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) March 7, 2016
@KimKardashian – just our bodies.
— Chloë Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) March 7, 2016
Middler and Moretz received backlash for their tweets, with people accusing them of slut-shaming Kim Kardashian. Pop stars Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and even Kardashian’s former frenemy, Amber Rose, defended Kim’s nude selfie against critics with tweets and Instagram posts of their own.
Whatever your stance on Kim Kardashian’s nude selfie is, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star can take credit for sparking an important conversation that may help people come to a better understanding of what it means to be a woman in this complicated day and age. As such, Kim Kardashian has been earning fans of late due to her enlightening response to slut-shamers who hurled insults at her after she put up her controversial nude selfie on the internet. Kardashian wrote the essay in her blog.
I am empowered by my body. I am empowered by my sexuality. I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin. I am empowered by showing the world my flaws and not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about me. And I hope that through this platform I have been given, I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world.
In a way, the vandalism and slut-shaming committed against the Kardashian-inspired mural art adds another layer of meaning and context to the original piece of work. What better way to symbolize slut-shaming than the defaced version of the work itself?
[Photo by Lionel Cironneau/AP Images]
