This quote sheds light on the growing stigma in today's society, wherein, women are objectified and labeled by their sexuality. They should either both be deemed acceptable or both deemed unacceptable. I, personally, don't care to see any of it. Even within the celebrity photo debacle, nicknamed "The Fappening", women's privacies were violated yet they were shamed for broadcasting their bodies. I'm fairly certain the hackers had photos of men as well but chose to shame and degrade women for their nakedness. It should never have even been a question of whether or not these women were allowed to have images depicting their own sexuality. These images weren't intended for public consumption. But what if they were? In countless films a woman's private parts are aired for the world to see so why the uproar? Because it wasn't done in such a manner where the institution can profit off of their exploitation? I applaud these women for standing up for themselves and their right to privacy (and freedom to be naked and document their sexiness). Sexual photographs depicting men are not cast in such a negative light and in most cases are celebrated. Understand this. I AM A WOMAN and
But the sad truth is that we CAN'T do whatever we want. Especially Black women and women of color. We're definitely judged differently and held to a higher standard. In my opinion, had not the nudes of the plethora o' White celebrities leaked prior to Keke Palmer's, her "Cinderella" title would've been stripped away similar to Vanessa L. Williams. I also saw a vast amount of negative connotations geared towards the African American women who were victimized in "The Fappening" versus the sympathy that I saw across the board for the other women. Yet, they all suffered from the same violation. Sadly, we haven't evolved enough as a country to accept that woman are also inherently sexual beings. I spoke briefly in my open letter to that nut job Liv [read it here: Open Letter] about the rights of women to take back their sexuality and embrace their femininity, whether it's through lyrics, photos, videos, etc. For years men have been sexualizing women and treating us as objects and it's time that we take matters into our OWN hands! It's our right to do with our own bodies what we see fit. We should have not only equal rights and equal pay, but sexual equality as well. Once society removes the negative veil cast on the female body the stigma will begin to dissipate. Call us FEMINISTS if you'd like but if that's the case then we should ALL BE FEMINISTS!
Shonda Rhimes touched briefly on this topic in this week's episode of "Scandal" when Mellie gave a compelling speech to her daughter stating, "If you could tell me that you had sex with those two boys because it made you happy, because you wanted to, because you felt empowered and turned on, Karen, I would try hard to be supportive and happy for you...Like it or not, you are the famous child of the most famous man on earth. And it may not be fair. And it may not be right. And it's definitely sexist. If you were a boy, they'd be giving you high-fives. But you're not. So your knees are gonna have to stay together. Do you understand?" I understood. We all did. We watched in awe as Shonda addressed an issue that sadly enough women feel we can't speak on. But we should speak up for the sake of our daughters and their daughters and their daughters as well. We shouldn't allow the small minded and neanderthal population of men to stifle any bit of our freedom. Don't get me wrong. I'm not, by any means, suggesting that all women go out and share nudes or walk around stark naked. This is more of a pro-choice issue for me. This is about EMPOWERMENT. We should have the RIGHT to display our bodies, lawfully, if we feel overtaken by the spirit to do so.
We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls: You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful but not too successful, otherwise you will threaten the man. If you are the breadwinner in your relationship with a man, pretend that you are not, especially in public, otherwise you will emasculate him.
Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Natasha Marie
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