Stop Making Women Feel Ashamed of Their Naked Bodies

Hello again!!

Apologies for the incredible lack of posts.. (OMG, it's been over a year!). Life has a funny way of getting in the way these days, especially as I near fully fledged adulthood *cries*; blog writing is unfortunately at the bottom of the priority list.

I'm currently in my final year at university - scary- and should be writing my dissertation. However, procrastination is not easily avoided, nor is Facebook and Twitter and the nonsense news and gossip shared on the social media sites. Previous readers of Banish Body Hang Ups will know that me writing a blog post is usually prompted by recent news and events - one of the most recent being Kim Kardashian West and her nude selfies...

The woman is like Marmite; you either love her or hate her. Personally, I'm not a fan, but she is a woman who as made the most of the opportunities given to her and for that, I respect her. She recently posted a nude mirror selfie, in which 'relevant' areas were hidden with two bold, black bars,  I doubt you'll have missed it.

Considering the fact we've all seen Kimmy K completely in the buff already (whether we wanted to or not), I'm surprised it provoked such a reaction. I mean, if you think about, it is no different to a woman posting a picture of herself in a bikini and no one ever says a word about them. Regardless of her reason behind posting the selfie, the abuse she got for it was not okay. The names and slut shaming was not okay. People said that she was a bad influence and shouldn't be teaching girls that they should try and seek attention by sharing naked selfies. I don't want to get into the politics of it all and who said what, because it digresses from the point of this post...

If a woman feels comfortable in sharing a naked image then that's her prerogative..

 YOU DO NOT GET TO TELL HER THAT SHE IS WRONG TO DO SO AND TRY TO MAKE HER FEEL ASHAMED.

Same goes for a woman who is most comfortable when she is completely covered up...

YOU DO NOT GET TO TELL HER THAT SHE IS WRONG TO DO SO AND TRY TO MAKE HER FEEL ASHAMED.

Friendly reminder here that a naked body is a natural body and nothing to be ashamed of. 

The actual photo that prompted this post was actually Ms. Kardashian West's photo with 

Emily Ratajkoswski in which they both pose topless for a mirror selfie, along with their middle fingers up. Emily was a celeb who publicly stood by Kim amidst the abuse she received for her naked selfie. The photo is clearly a - as one might say - "F*ck you, haters" (Laughing at myself right now for using the term 'haters' btw) who previously slut shamed her.

To be honest, it was Piers Morgan's tweeting his 'opinion' to the photo of the pair that pissed me off referring to the image as 'tacky' and "RIP feminism". What an idiot. It's not 'tacky' - It is a statement. A statement that to me says, "we will not be made to feel ashamed of our bodies because you don't agree with them". If you find a naked body offensive then NEWS FLASH you don't need to bloody look.. just avert your eyes, it's really not difficult. And RIP feminism?! Not really sure what you are trying to get at there Mr. Morgan?

Anyway, the actual point that I'M trying to get at is that a woman's naked body is not offensive, but shaming her for being proud of it is. I personally would not share an naked picture of myself as I'm not comfortable doing so, but no girl should be shamed if she does, it's ridiculous. Everyone is at a different level with what they are comfortable with and someone being on a different level to you doesn't make them wrong or a bad person. 

I should probably get back to my dissertation now.. sorry for the ranty post, haha!

Much love

Katie 

X

This is why I don't read newspapers...

After seeing a recent tweet showing a a short article in a newspaper, slamming Millie Mackintosh for her 'skinny selfies' that supposedly promote anorexia, I'm sticking my two pence in. If you've read my posts before, you'll know this usually means a rant.

It's okay to not be okay.

So today I have missed another lecture. That’s the fourth one and it’s only the second week. 50% due to being full of a cold (the third one I’ve had in less than two months) and the other 50% is due to the complete absence of motivation.

I feel incredibly low at the minute. There is no particular reason for me feeling this way. I just do. Some people just don’t understand this and I don’t blame them, I don’t even understand it myself. I have no reason to be in the state that I am, everything in my life is good and I’m a very lucky girl! I get annoyed at myself because of this which makes me feel even worse. I’m stuck in a bit of a rut.

GUEST POST 2 | BY BOUDOIR BLOGGING

Hello everyone, my name is Jess and I usually blog over at Boudoir Blogging. This post is a little different from what I usually write about but I'm hoping it will help at least one person. My post is all about weight, it's something I've struggled with a while now and I would like to share my story with you. (Cheesy right)

I've been meaning to write this for a while, but I just kept putting it off, why? Because lets face it who really likes to talk about home truths? But here it goes:

What I achieved in 2014!

Hello! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Apologies for neglecting my blog, but December has been absolutely hectic and I've had zero time or motivation to write. I've also just noticed that I'm only a few pageviews away from 3000!! THANK YOU!

Anyway, with 2015 being SO close and lots of you sharing your New Year's resolutions, I thought I would finally take some time out to write a quick little post...

Now, I'm not one for actually making New Year resolutions, I don't particularly like the idea of identifying any flaws in life and aiming to change them, (not that there's anything wrong with making resolutions!), so instead I thought I'd twist it up and share achievements this year...

For the first time ever, I've actually made myself proud with what I've done:

- I passed my first year of University with a First (might not seem a big deal to some, but for me, this was big)

- I STARTED THIS BLOG! It was something that I started at the spur of the moment and I never thought it would do so well and receive such an amazing response. It also lead to me discovering such an amazing online community... YOU GUYS ARE FAB!

-In the same month that I started blogging, I also started volunteering for the British Red Cross at a local charity shop. I originally did it to gain some experience and to keep me busy over the summer. I planned to stop in September, but I've carried on as I love it so much and couldn't ask for a better group of people to volunteer with. I've even managed the shop too, which was nerve racking as it involved a lot of responsibility, but I coped with no problems, which brought a massive sense of achievement!

- I'm a lot happier in myself than I was last year. My confidence has soared on so many different levels.

I could go on more, but these 4 things were the major ones that I really wanted to share.

My only goal in life is to be happy (cheesy, but true) and at the moment I am, so my only 'goal' is to maintain this :)

So, what have you lovely lot achieved this year?

All the best for 2015 and if you have made any New Year's resolutions, good luck! :)

Katie x

P.S I have a guest post that will be going up in the first week of January, so keep an eye out!

Too shy to go to the gym...

This week, I actually need YOUR advice...
Late this summer, I joined the gym. I was full of motivation to get fit, but so far, I've made very little progress. I will hold my hands up and admit that this is partly due to my motivation flying out of the window (being curled up in bed is always going to sound better). But the major reason is that I'm just too shy to go...

Should it be declared when Photoshop has been used in magazines and adverts?

If you've read my blog before, you will know I like to put my two pence in when it comes to current topics that relate to body image. And the recent images published of Keira Knightley and Kim Kardashian West have got me thinking... should it be declared when Photoshop (or any other image editing software) has been used to alter someone's appearance?