Why no one should police Kim Kardashian’s nude photos

Early Monday morning, reality TV star Kim Kardashian West posted a picture of herself on her Twitter account looking like her usual fabulous self, just minus the clothes.

Some people weren’t on board with Kim’s nude selfie, equating her nude body with being a bad mom and role model. Surprisingly, a couple famous women also had a few harsh words to say to Kim K. Chloe Grace Moretz and Bette Midler were two of them. Moretz took to Twitter, claiming that Kardashian wasn’t setting the right goals for other ladies.

Then Bette Midler chimed in with her own response, which had a little bit more edge to it.

It’s fair to say that both Moretz and Midler had their reasons for putting their tweets out into the world. Moretz was expressing her own values, while Midler’s diss was tempered with sarcasm and comedy (as you might expect from a comedian). But the fact remains that these criticisms are coming from fellow women. And it’s always a bummer when we see women condemning other women for personal choices that seemingly harm no one else.

Several hours ago, singer Demi Lovato added to the conversation (one can assume it’s a response to the Kim vs. The World feud) by posting an Instagram of a drawing that reads, “Nudity empowers some. Modesty empowers some. Different things empower different women and its [sic] not your place to tell her which one it is.”

 And Lovato is totally right — what right do Moretz and Midler (and another person, regardless of gender) have to criticize a woman’s expression of confidence? At the end of the day, though, Kim seems to stay strong. She first put out another nude selfie with the caption #liberated, telling her followers that she’ll remain motivated to celebrate herself:

But in all fairness, her responses to Moretz and Midler could have been handled with a bit more tact, and a bit less sass. With Moretz, she appears to reference Moretz’s semi-nude Nylon magazine cover:

And with Midler, well, she has little chill:

Either way, though, this situation speaks volumes on the amount of criticism women face online every day. In our ideal world, women would be able to own their sexuality in whatever way they see fit, without having it result in a storm of controversy and hate.