Emily Ratajkowski and Kim Kardashian recently broke the Internet with their topless selfies on Instagram. While Emily and Kim are purporting this to be an act of feminism, some are saying that they do not fit the label of feminists at all.
“ If there’s anyone here who doesn’t understand the cause, it’s Ratajkowski ,” reports the Independent . “She seems to be suffering somewhat of an identity crisis. On one hand she wants to fight against the objectification and oppression of women’s bodies, yet she happily profits from her ability to titillate men.”
This particular writer exemplified the music video that was the rise to fame for Emily — Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. The writer at the Independent wrote, “This career highlight did nothing to advance women’s rights. It merely endorsed art that demeans and dehumanises femkind.”
Check out Emily and Kim being topless here , and decide for yourself if feminist is the word you might use to describe the two ladies.
In the famous Instagram picture, Emily Ratajkowski captioned it, “We are more than just our bodies, but that doesn’t mean we have to be shamed for them or our sexuality . #liberated @kimkardashian.”
On top of being topless, Emily and Kim held their middle finger tall and proud.
When this picture was released on social media, the press, as well as the general public, had a field day.
“ Kim Kardashian recently made waves with two nearly naked selfies that threw the Twitterverse into an uproar, sparking a debate over the 35-year-old mother of two’s decision to share the pictures,” reports Time . “She responded to those who criticized her with a series of tweets followed by a post on her website defending herself against the outrage, and was quickly backed by a group of fellow famous names supporting her anti body-shaming message.”
Being a feminist has only gotten more complicated and convoluted with time — and most of the backlash and questions are thrown at the people who claim that they know what being a “feminist” means. Like the writer at the Independent , some see topless selfie movement as a total anti-feminist move, cancelling out all the good, hard work done by women that came before them.
After being criticized so heavily, Emily Ratajkowski spoke out to defend herself and also express that women should never be threatened, criticized, or shamed by anyone. Read an excerpt from the Lenny newsletter, run by Girls creator Lena Dunham.
“ My response to people saying I post oversexualized images is that it’s my choice and there’s an ownership and empowerment through them. When I take nude photographs, I’m not there for the boys. It’s about owning my sexuality and celebrating it,” she said to Women’s Wear Daily . “And it’s my choice and there has to be room for that in our culture and in our world.”
But that doesn’t mean that the 24-year-old model only posts racy and provocative pictures on her Instagram. Sometimes, shoe opts for very simple and cute pictures that tug at the heartstrings of all puppy lovers out there.
Kim Kardashian, after throwing all the public in a frenzy with her topless pictures, has also taken a much more subtle and familiar tone to her Instagram. Most recently, she uploaded a picture of a friend who is suffering from a loss of a dear one.
The 24-year-old feminist also has not let the criticisms weigh her down. She has been right back on her Instagram, uploading sexy and racy pictures from her fashion campaigns as well as from her personal life.
Her latest picture is of herself wearing a white mesh swimsuit, proudly standing up for herself that woman have total control over their bodies.
[Photos by Emily Ratajkowski, Kim Kardashian West/Instagram]