Selena Gomez Wasn’t Slut Shamed By Fans Over Photo, Star Called Out For Hypocrisy


Selena Gomez caused an Internet and media stir last week when a near-nude photo of her surfaced online. Amid mixed reception to the photo, a false “slut shaming” narrative emerged.

Enter, Teen Vogue’s “Selena Gomez Is Being Slut Shamed for This Partially Nude Photo” piece.

The article offers a disingenuous interpretation of the Twitter backlash the ex-Disney starlet received after posing topless in a lace thong, white towel, and hoop earrings while throwing a come-hither look.

To be clear: Based on a sizeable sample of the thousands of tweets on the matter from fans across multiple fandoms, people weren’t slut shaming Gomez — they were calling her out as a hypocrite.

For a look at the uncensored picture, click here.

https://twitter.com/NSFW_GONG/status/819574665597321216

Most tweets, if not all, referenced a line from Selena’s acceptance speech after she won an award at the American Music Awards last November.

During her speech, Selena said, “I don’t want to see your bodies on Instagram. I want to see what’s in here.” She then touched her chest, showing that she wants to see what in her fans’ hearts.

At the time, media reporting, online comments from fans and celebrities, revealed that line was widely seen as Gomez telling her typically young female fanbase that she would prefer to know about their feelings than see skin-baring selfies on Instagram.

The reasonable view is that the actress-singer considers such images as exhibitionist, shallow, and possibly degrading. So, it is understandable that many fans believe there is a massive disconnect between Gomez’s words and her actions. And not for the first time.

While many of the pop princess’ fans tweeted their appreciation of her sultry photo, a lot more blasted the 24-year-old for hypocrisy.

Again, none of the disgruntled fans’ tweets stated they had an issue with Gomez taking her clothes off.

Rather, it was her specific declaration that she doesn’t want to see “bodies” on Instagram that many feel is contradicted by her subsequent suggestive thong pic.

One fan vented, “Her speech was b******t. She praised something that doesn’t make f****ing sense and said she’s ‘against’ posting but she does it anyway.”

Another fan said bluntly, “I thought she didn’t want to see bodies on Instagram.”

One user blasted, “Didn’t Selena Gomez just give a speech about how she didn’t care to show her naked body on social media? Bish whet.”

Another wrote, “Like she was telling girls that they shouldn’t post pics of themselves, even tho girls should be able to post whatever they want.”

Fast forward to Teen Vogue unconvincingly claiming Selena’s scantily-clad photo and the relevant line in her speech “actually exist in the same plane.”

The online magazine continued, “What Selena said in her speech encouraged her fans to be themselves. She said she wants to see what’s in their hearts, not some image of what they think might garner likes.”

Fair enough. But the site’s following arguments still do not square up with the star’s words, or the intentions of protesting fans. Furthermore, no one can say for sure what Selena meant but her.

“Selena’s body is her own,” Teen Vogue insisted, “and she is in charge of who sees it and how they see it. If she chooses to allow the public to see her back and butt cheeks, that’s her choice — and it’s not an inherently sexual one. This expression, and any other one she posts, is what’s in her heart.”

“Selena doesn’t have to explain her photos to anyone, all she needs to do is make sure she’s doing what’s in her heart,” the mag added.

In reality, the site’s statements are an attempt to reduce fans’ complaints to attacks on Gomez’s freedom to present her body as she sees fit and frame them as slut shaming, as if their concerns were about sexuality.

But, fans weren’t saying Selena doesn’t have the right to display her body in whatever way she wants. Fans were actually making the point that they did not appreciate being told what to do with their bodies on social media, especially by someone who later posed in clearly revealing public images.

Some fans also tweeted that it was they who felt slut shamed by Gomez.

As Death And Taxes put it, “You can be revealing and express what’s in your heart at the same time.” The two concepts are “not mutually exclusive.”

In response to Teen Vogue’s article, one fan ripped, “Selena ain’t getting slut shamed, she’s getting backlash for policing women on what pics they should take, next.”

Another fan fumed, “No one is asking for an explanation i just want her to know she a f****ing backwards a** hypocrite.”

One user tweeted, “No one cares what Selena showed, the issues y’all dense idiots can’t catch is that Selena is a hypocrite.”

Meanwhile, there are other reasons why Teen Vogue claiming Gomez’s latest photo popping up online is an “expression” of her “heart” is arguably naive or fawning.

The chronology of the starlet’s headline-generating stunts last week suggests there is a planned publicity blitz at work. The evidently contrived sequence of events kicked off with Gomez and The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) openly kissing each other in front of paparazzi outside a swanky Santa Monica restaurant after a dinner date on Tuesday, January 10.

Pictures of the pair were published by gossip media the next day. The same day, The Weeknd teased the music video for his already released “Party Monster” single from his currently Billboard topping No. 1 album StarBoy.

On January 12, famed photographer Mert Alas Instagramed Gomez’s behind-the-scenes reveal, which was shot at an as yet unseen photo shoot. Alas tagged The Weeknd in the snap. He could just as easily have sent Abel the photo privately.

While the ensuing media and Internet frenzy continued, The Weeknd dropped his “Party Monster” video the next day. Amid the fuss over the “hot new couple,” inevitably media zeroed on one line in Abel’s latest single: “Angelina, lips like Angelina / Like Selena, a** shaped like Selena.”

And, as was surely intended, Selena’s ready-made thong image was added to the onslaught of media reports on The Weeknd’s new music video, their “romance,” the lyrics, Abel’s supermodel recently former girlfriend, Bella Hadid, unfollowing Gomez on Instagram, and later reports that Hadid feels “backstabbed” by Gomez.

Does all of that add up to something that’s about “what’s in her heart,” or an old-fashioned PR power play by The Weeknd and SelGo and their respective teams?

Have your say in comments below.

[Featured Image by C. Flanigan/Getty Images]

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