Jameela Jamil slams Kim Kardashian's tiny-waisted corset photo: 'She has had decades of body image issues'
Jameela Jamil, who is an advocate for body positivity opened up about what she thought about Kim Kardashian's latest Instagram photo in which she appeared to be squeezed into a tiny-waisted corset, after facing pressure from her fans to react.
The 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' star's social media picture became a hot topic of debate after her waist was seen unnaturally thin while in the corset, which was a replica of the one she wore underneath her Met Gala dress last year. She revealed in her post that she had misplaced the original one and hence had another just like it made.
"I’ve received over 1000 DMs asking me to address this," Jamil wrote reposting Kim's picture on Instagram. "The reason I didn’t jump on it immediately isn’t because I don’t think the post was damaging and disappointing. I do. It’s because the fact that you’re all messaging me about it, shows my work is done. I haven't been trying to cancel Kim K. I was always trying to arm YOU with the knowledge to recognize for YOURSELVES that this is a bulls**t expectation of women, developed by the patriarchy. If YOU know that it’s problematic, reductive and irresponsible for her to perpetuate such a heavily impossible beauty standard to her impressionable fans… then you’re empowered and conscious and don’t need me."
The British actress added that according to her, the mother-of-four must be insecure of her own body, not unlike many of her fans.
"Kim, like many of us, has had decades of body image issues and obsession. This has been HEAVILY perpetuated by how much the media scrutinized her and her sisters over their appearances. She isn’t actively trying to harm you. She’s just so harmed and deluded into thinking this is what SHE needs to look like to be special and beautiful and she’s spilling it out onto her following. Is this wrong? YES. But I’m not sure she realizes that she’s doing to others what her idols did to her, in making her think a tiny waist is the key to femininity and sex appeal," Jamil said.
Jamil said that Kim promoted herself as a body-positive icon and yet could not help succumb to the standards of beauty that the society was taught to expect from celebrities. "We grew up in the era of Heroin Chic, where we were told you HAD to look like an addict starving to death, so to go from that..to being bullied about your body by the world? This toxicity from someone who is smart and knows better, is a sign that this is harm she can’t stop doing," she said.
She further advised her fans to keep away from posts and celebrities who bring them down and instead focus on people who inspire them.
"So there’s no point in screaming at her. The smart thing to do is to protect YOURSELF. YOU have the power. YOU control every Market. YOU choose what and who is trendy. Unfollow the people who tell you things that hurt your self esteem. Don’t let the debris of their damage spill out onto you. Unfollow people/brands that don’t make you feel powerful and happy and grateful for what you have. You’re the boss and none of them are s**t without you. THE PATRIARCHY WANTS US TO FOCUS ON OUR WEIGHT INSTEAD OF POWER, EQUALITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FREEDOM. F**K ANYONE WHO ENCOURAGES THIS. ‘BLOCK. MUTE. DELETE. REPEAT. Follow activists, writers, artists and comedians instead," she said.