Wear what you like
By: Megan Graves, Columnist
Hey there, Towson! I hope Spring Break was everything you’d hoped it would be, whether you traveled or spent those 168 hours catching up on some much needed sleep and Netflix. As warmer weather begins to settle in, I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about women’s bodies and how we all choose to cover (or uncover) them.
I’m sure most of you saw Kim K’s latest nude selfie. She posted it on twitter exclaiming that she just couldn’t figure out what to wear.
Now, what bothers me about this post is that if a Kardashian can’t figure out what to wear with their likely endless, definitely expensive, wardrobe, where is the hope for the rest of us?
What bothers me even more so, however, is the way some people reacted to this post. The words “slut” and “ho” swiftly bombarded this woman, as they are likely to do to the rest of us as we begin to dress in ways to keep us cool this spring and into this summer.
Here’s my opinion on all of this: some women are empowered by nudity, and some women are empowered by modesty. There is absolutely no problem with either of those mentalities. Where the problem arises is when we as a society try to tell women which one they should feel empowered by.
If you want to show off your entire body, do it. If you want to show off part of your body but keep some of it to yourself, do it. If you want to keep every part of your body to yourself, do it.
Do not shame another woman for showing off more or less of her body than you personally would.
I see so many posts online talking about, “if you’re over 200 lbs. then you can’t wear booty shorts/crop tops/ tank tops/ anything that could possibly keep you comfortable as the weather approaches 80 degrees and higher.”
These posts suck. You can wear whatever the hell you want, no matter what size you are. No exceptions. If you don’t like the way someone looks in what they’re wearing, then tough. They probably aren’t dressing for you, anyway.
My advice this spring and summer, to summarize, is this: your body is something, maybe the only thing, that you alone own entirely. Only you have the authority to dictate what you put on it and what you take off of it. Do whatever makes you comfortable.
You do not have control over anyone else’s body, and therefore you have no right telling them what you think they should or shouldn’t be wearing. Stay in your lane, love your body in whatever ways make you comfortable, and don’t let the opinions of others get you down.
Your body is beautiful, and I hope the rest of your semester if nothing short of awesome.