Social Media, Magazine Covers, and Even Television

The human body is made up of many organs and muscles, etc. Our body expresses who we are as individuals . Being completely naked has always been seen as something sexual, however for others it’s natural and use their bodies to express emotions and beliefs. For decades, nudity has been sexualized and has taught women that they need to cover. Nudity is a natural thing and is seen as art. We see the display of nudity all over social media, magazine covers, and even television. However, nudity is shown in many different ways. In some ways it’s meant to be sexual and some ways its not. This idea has brought up controversial arguments that nudity has been sexualized. Many people don’t pay attention to the fact that being naked is a way of freedom of expression and look at the negative side, where a woman is just putting herself out there and is “asking” for it. Why has it become so normal for men to degrade women for being naked and have them be known as a slut? Why has it become so normalized for celebrities to put themselves out there and be judged when sometimes they’re just trying to send out a message. Nudity has been viewed more than just exposing too much but viewing a woman’s body as a sexual object. Having major influencers like celebrities greatly impact what people view nudity to be.

When we think of the word nudity, we usually refer to women, sex, and shame. On average across the nation magazines, one among two advertisements that featured women depicted them as sex objects. It seems to be just about nudity but really seems to be about the portrayal of the use of a woman’s body for advertising.The sexual victimization of girls is seen to be used solely on advertising. The exposure of women’s bodies occurred concerning four times as typically compared to the exposure of men’s bodies in magazines. Magazines tend to send combined messages concerning gender ideals alongside with body image. This has brought an effect on the way girls view themselves and create unrealistic goals that they believe is perfect. Most magazines are targeted towards younger girls because they usually feel like they are in a competition to look the best and attract the most boys. Magazines use women to advertise what they are trying to promote even to the extent of photoshopping their bodies to meet their unrealistic expectations to make their presentations “better’. Nudity in this kind of aspect is used negatively and encourages viewers to think that nudity is shameful. Creators behind the scenes might argue that it’s just “art”, but art is not sexualizing a woman’s body for the benefit of making money and becoming known. This is significant to the public eye, because it teaches young girls who look up to these magazine companies to create impractical goals for themselves. Additionally, the mainstream of media has learned to use nudity to catch the eyes of many viewers because they know it is not something a normal person would see on a daily basis. This is where it becomes beneficial for them. This exhibition is teaching young viewers that it is okay to use their bodies as objects for display.

Although nudity has been viewed as something shameful and too revealing, their have been efforts from other mainstreams that seek out to send empowering messages. The Body Issue is an edition of ESPN The Magazine that features dozens of athletes in nude and semi-nude photograph. ESPN shows the public a different kind of normalization on their covers, where these people aren’t seen as ordinary athletes. Their covers range from people who are covered in tattoos to people who are amputees. It is significant that this source puts out these kinds of images on their covers because it gives society a different kind of perspective of what normal athletes look like. Each cover explicitly shows athletes naked, but are pictured to send out an important message to the public. This kind of display implies the idea that nudity is being used to show regular people that it’s okay to be different. This is evidently shown through the naked covers of famous athletes. The cover of Sarah Reinstein reveals her body differently where not only is she completely nude, but she is an amputee with a prosthetic leg. This cover is something the world is not used to seeing. Her prosthetic leg is clearly present as it is the main focus of the cover. Her being nude is nonetheless the smaller picture in this cover. The world is used to seeing naked women on two feet with a “nice body” but Reinertsen cover resembles a different kind of beauty and normalization of what an athlete should look like. Behind this cover, the audience gets a glimpse of her story. Having naked athletes on the covers of ESPN has represented more than just nudity, but the message of empowering athletes who set out examples to be inspirations for the public view. These kinds of images seem to more than just about nude athletes showing “off’ their sculpted bodies but more about the message of trying set out a positive example of their characteristics and that being different is okay. In this case ESPN’s cover is nowhere near being sexualized.

Nudity has always offended a certain number of people. Throughout many years women have been told that they are suppose to cover up and not expose their body part parts to the media . However, this idea has grown out to be a kind of normalization where women are beginning to use their own will and express their bodies as a piece of art. The use of naked photos seems to be more than just about art but more about how celebrities potrary their nude bodies as art. Celebrities have a huge impact to the world where the majority of the world look up to these kinds of people because they are so well known. Celebrities have began the movement of expressing their bodies as a message to what they are trying to represent. Kim Kardashian for example, has posted many images on her social media explicitly showing her body completely naked. One post in particular was an image of herself naked and pregnant. For many months, she kept quiet and did not respond to any comments. In an interview she stated that it was her way of expressing a womens body undergoing a life changing experience and should be viewed as a piece of art where women are given this kind of privilege to experience. She states that her image was posted to send the message that big or small, we are beautiful, and that it is an amazing thing that our bodies do to create life. Reading through the many comments it is clear that most would not agree that posting a nude photo even if pregnant is appropriate, however Kim Kardashian’s posting does influence older women to feel good about their bodies undergoing a significant change in their bodies. It is significant that this post is still up and has not been taken down because it is able to remain up and running for viewers to go back and look to see what the real message she is trying to put out.

Nudity has always offended a certain number of people. Throughout many years women have been told that they are suppose to cover up and not expose their body part parts to the media . However, this idea has grown out to be a kind of normalization where women are beginning to use their own will and express their bodies as a piece of art. From magazine covers to social media posts. Celebrities have began the movement of expressing their bodies as a message to what they are trying to represent. Though the viewpoint of nudity may just seem to be out sexualization, nudity is more about the idea of use and expression. It allows creators and viewers to determine what they think should be acceptable the the limits photographs should have to be displayed to the public eye.