Response to "My Bodies of the Year: Kim Kardashian's Instagram Moment and 12 Unsexy Months"

While reading the article “My Bodies of the Year: Kim Kardashian’s Instagram Moment and 12 Unsexy Months” by Wesley Morris, I found myself not only intrigued but also somewhat surprised by what I was reading. While I am aware of the idea of body image and how it is perceived and how it is prominent in the media and pop culture today, I think because of how casual society has become with things like being naked and sex, people tend to look past just how common it is to see these things. Why should it matter if someone’s body looks perfect all of the time? That seems to be one of the main concerns on society this day in time. I do believe that bodies matter much more now in 2014 than they did ten years ago. Not to say that bodies did not matter ten years ago, but this obsession with looking perfect and in a sense “selling your body” to the media because you are a celebrity seems much more prominent. 

An example that I feel would complement this article is a picture of Justin Bieber that I came across a while ago that popped into my mind while reading the article. The reason I chose to include this image is because I think many times people look past of even young celebrity boys are portrayed in a sexual manner to sell things like magazines. The photo that I am going to include is of Justin Bieber on the cover of Vanity Fair with kiss marks all over his neck and shirt, as well as a women’s hand pulling his tie from the side. While it may seem innocent to some, I feel that for someone his age, this type of photo is unnecessary in promoting him on the cover of a magazine.  The media feels the need to always take something that would sell well anyway and either perfect and edit what was already okay or sexualize it so that it might sell better.

I think that the article did a wonderful job of talking about just how much the media feels the need to include sexuality in magazine covers or photo shoots of stars, and also why having the perfect body makes you more confident and likeable than if you are just an average person.