Our bodies, ourselves

After Kate Upton graced the cover of Elle's September issue--and complained in an interview that she was sick of getting hit on by often-married, middle-aged guys who had no business hitting on her--a letter to the editor appeared in the October issue slamming her for having brought that kind of thing on herself. What does she expect--asked the letter-writer--when she makes a living off of her body? She expects to be treated like a human being, i.e., she deserves dignity and respect, rather than objectification, no matter how she leverages her own body to make a living. That's right: she may lead with her boobs--and she does--but she is still a whole person.

I had to establish that--the concept itself, and how strongly I believe in it--because what I'm about to write may seem contradictory to that concept, and I want to make it clear that it's not--that this post is not concern-trolling, nor is it driven by humorlessness, naivete, bitterness, or jealousy. Taking those one at a time: 

• humorlessness: we all need our distractions, be they kittens picking their noses or celebrities picking their noses; abstaining from cat videos and celebrity gossip is not going to bring peace to Syria, South Sudan, or Central African Republic.
• naivete: we are all--or at least most of us--drawn to formidable posteriors, among other things. Physical attraction or at the very least admiration is a thing.
• bitterness or jealousy: I'm more than happy with the butt I have; remember when my butt made a dent in an SUV? Trust me: I'm not intimidated or made jealous by anyone else's ass. (I will spare you the complete list of odd but apparently complimentary comments people have made about my physical appearance, but I'll throw out one more for the purpose of my argument: a masseur recently told me that I had a "perfect back.")

One more thing: I wholeheartedly believe in self-care, including exercise and strength training. Put another way, I see exercise and strength training as self-care, rather than an exercise in narcissism or vanity. Not only that, but I've covered, more times than I can be bothered to go and find links, the nexus between weight consciousness and feminism. 

And yet, I'm just... perplexed by the Jen Selter phenomenon. Not just because it's not particularly useful to look at someone else's butt for inspiration, because her body is not your body, but because I just don't get it. I will stand up for JS's right to lead with her butt just as I'll stand up for KU's right to lead with her boobs--and by that I mean the right to maintain one's whole humanity while marketing oneself based on a body part or two--and I'm as glad as I am perplexed that a few people are taking better care of themselves as a result. But I wouldn't recommend it (i.e., leading with a body part), at least to anyone who isn't going to make a living off of it. JS and KU don't need my advice, but if I had a little sister or something, I'd say, "make yourself strong and get some light-hearted enjoyment out of how good that strength makes you look, but, more importantly, go read a book or something." I'll find inspiration in my formidable ass or perfect back, or anyone else's, when it alleviates a humanitarian crisis. Even then, I'll go read a book.