On Friday night, Channel 9 weather presenter and mother of two, Rebecca Judd posted the following image of herself:
The reason for this selfie was – according to Judd- to disply her organic spray tan.
She captioned it like this:
If you are a celebrity in 2014 and even if you’re not, selfies are a legitimate form of communication and self-expression. We get that.
The question is, what’s actually being expressed here?
We aren’t going to pass comment. But Judd’s 196K followers (many of them mothers) had a lot to say.
In 3 hours, the photo generated 3.5K likes and 615 comments.
The reaction was very divided.
An argument quickly broke out in the comments on Judd’s Instagram account between those who thought she “looks amazing” and those who were concerned about her physical health, claiming the mother of two (including a six month old baby) looks worryingly thin.
A sample of the comments from her followers:
After reading the praise and the backlash and then the backlash against the backlash, we got a headache and had to go and have a bowl of ice cream and lie down.
So. What have we learned today? That women’s bodies will always be conversational currency. That women’s reasons for posting selfies are complex while not always being openly declared. That the reaction to a bikini selfie will always be major – squared if you are a mother.
That people’s definitions of a ‘hot body’ are very very different.
And that if you post a selfie of your body in a bikini like this, it’s difficult to object or act surprised or outraged when the result is……a lot of commentary about your body in a bikini.
Top Comments
I heard about this when it first came out, but didnt read anything or see the pics till now..
My question; Who cares?!? i mean yes we should care if she is promoting bad body image but is she?? Do we not know women who are that thin without having an eating disorder? I sure do, more than a couple in fact.
Im not saying i think she looks healthy, in fact in my personal opinion i would be horrified if i woke up one day looking like that and losing my sexy size 10 curves (unlikely to happen) but why are we judging her? Who decides whats too thin and whats too fat? Iam sure some like her body, and some men would prefer a different figure. I dont get it. is she never meant to wear a bikini and take a pic of herself because it makes others feel awful about their bodies..? Thats like saying anyone who is attractive should stop taking pictures of themselves in it because it make unattractive people ffeel bad that they dont look like that.
At the end of the day I dont think she was doing it to show off how thin she was, and if she is then let her be. People are so negative these days.
We must be careful not to body shame. Though she is incredibly skinny, who are we to comment on her health? As long as she is not endorsing people to look exactly like her and the media is not holding her body type as a pedestal, then all we should be doing is acknowledging that this can be a body type, but if it is not your natural type it probably isn't safe for you to try to attain.
If she does have an eating disorder, you must realise it's a serious mental illness which is not open for public debate on how she should handle it. I don't know her so I can't comment on whether she does or not (she might not be able to put on weight and keep it on). What I do know, eating disorder or not, I can't imagine that the relentless, shaming and judgemental discussion over a photo, (in which we would praise a bigger, curvier or more toned girl), is of no help to anyone, and only further divides women.