Kim Kardashian Fires Back At Body Shamers With A Powerful Essay On Empowerment

For as much praise Kim Kardashian received after sharing a naked selfie on Instagram, came just as much shame. Many—both celebrity and non—voiced their disdain over Kardashian's very public display of her very naked body. A quick glance at our Facebook post from yesterday finds words and phrases like "Kim is an idiot" and "Kim walks like a slut...talks like a slut..." being hurled in her direction. (Those are just some of the tamer ones.) Those worse and phrases, though, aren't being heard by the subject they intend to tear down. Kardashian made that known in a short essay she shared on her personal website last night.

"Hey, guys. I wanted to write a post elaborating on my tweets last night," she began. “In all seriousness, I never understand why people get so bothered by what other people choose to do with their lives. I don’t do drugs, I hardly drink, I’ve never committed a crime—and yet I’m a bad role model for being proud of my body?" The 35-year-old business entrepreneur and mother of two went on to comment on how ridiculous it is the sex tape she made 13 years ago is still used to bring her down. “I lived through the embarrassment and fear, and decided to say who cares, do better, move on," Kardashian wrote. "I shouldn’t have to constantly be on the defense, listing off my accomplishments just to prove that I am more than something that happened 13 years ago."

Kardashian explained how she is empowered by her "sexuality," her "body," "feeling comfortable in [her] own skin," showing her "flaws," and "not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about [her]." She listed off how her love for and marriage to Kanye West empowers her; how her family's support empowers her; how the platform she has been given empowers her. "I hope that through this platform I have been given," she said, "I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world."

Her essay is a shining example of what it means to both be comfortable in your skin and finding comfort in those around you. She came right out and said that body-shaming and slut-shaming have to end. "I will not live my life dictated by the issues you have with my sexuality. You be you and let me be me," she wrote. Her concluding message, whether intentional or not, harps back to one of the underlining messages of Beyoncé's BEYONCÉ: that feeling sexy and being sexual does not stop after motherhood—in fact, it can thrive. "I am a mother. I am a wife, a sister, a daughter, an entrepreneur," Kardashian ends, "and I am allowed to be sexy."