Urban Betsy: SLUT! Nation

Can Kim Kardashian change the world? Who cares. Well, you should. Here's why.

Wearing: Calvin Klein bra & underwear

Let me start off by saying that I am by no means a Kim Kardashian fan, nor do I see her as a pillar of inspiration. My disclaimer aside, the world can attest her collective social media influence means that she must be cognizant of the content that she puts out to her younger followers. Enter the infamous nude selfie posted last week that provoked and created a worldwide schism on who the better feminist is. It opened a conversation that involved those who never even cared about her before. Even if you only know her for her Elizabethan style of make up --read on & I promise I'll give you something to care about.

Team Kim or Team Put That Shit Away, we must open up this dialogue with a wider lens and scrutinize this generation's myopia on female self-expressionism. Although I will not condone my future daughter to undress herself for all the world to see, I have no problem in telling her that it's ok to feel empowerment in anything that she does. We need to change the assimilation that society has about a woman's naked body and its implied messages. Dressing sexy or being sexy does not automatically mean that she is a slut or that she is warranting sexual intercourse from men. It's 2016 and this is a prime example of why we have such a long way to go.

While Kim is not a Miley Cyrus, who created her young fan base through Disney's Hannah Montana and then completely went 180. Kim is known for her sex tape, her tight fitted dresses, her Paper Mag cover that broke the internet, that bum. This is, albeit, a small chunk of Kim's persona; why are we surprised she wants to feel sexy in her own space? At no point is she to be a token to our country's changing. No amount of slut-shaming is okay to justify this. This is not me defending her, this is me defending any type of self expression.

Chloe Moretz's response was that as women we have "so much more to offer" than just our bodies. Again, this discourse needs realignment because one cannot assume anymore that just because a woman feels confident in her body she does not have anything else to offer. While it's her brand image, that's not all she is... We don't need to suppress our physical self so that society can focus on our other traits, we can be all of them at once.

Lena Dunham chose to make a statement with her countless nude scenes in Girls. And Ashley Graham chose her outlet in Sports Illustrated. It's retrograde if we as a whole choose to shame women for our physical ways of self-expression and deciding how & when to feel sexy. Whatever that word "sexy" means to them. Emily Ratajkowski makes an excellent point here in her letter.

The female body is beautiful, so can we celebrate it a way that doesn't make us feel ashamed or embarrassed? Feminist or not. It goes beyond the "men vs. women" divide, because I, as a woman, have been guilty of these predispositions myself. I now know it's okay to take ownership of my sexuality. This is coming from a girl who has spent a majority of her life in a conservative Asian country that frowned upon the slightest cleavage peaking out in public. We all just need to be a little more open minded before labeling someone or jumping down each other's throats. There's no excuse in allowing that backward, harmful stigma into the minds of our younger generation.

{PS} I was featured on Independent Fashion Blogger this week, along with some amazing bloggers - go check them out!
Links à la Mode, March 10