Aurora Starchild
Hilary Duff posted a nude photo to Instagram, and it received a decidedly different reaction than Britney Spears’ recent nude. Both photos were posted yesterday.
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Duff, featured in and on the cover of the Women’s Health Body issue, said she did it to feel empowered. Her Instagram post, which has received almost 2 million likes, is also quite humbling:
“I felt strong and beautiful and laughed a lot getting into some of these poses without my high waisted mom jeans and oversized whatever I normally wear. Thank you to everyone who normalized this day for me and propped me up with compliments and love… I love these photos so much, thank you for capturing a moment in time where I felt both completely vulnerable but powerful.”
Talking with Women’s Health, Duff opened up about struggling with body image issues and an eating disorder when she was 17. She also talked about the importance of working on the “inside,” and why mental health is important.
“Because of my career path, I can’t help but be like, ‘I am on camera and actresses are skinny’…It was horrifying.”
Duff’s nude is undoubtedly a hit. “Yas Queens,” flame emojis, and admissions of pride and glory have flooded Duff’s Instagram.
But in a different world, Britney also recently posted a nude photo of herself to Instagram.
So far, she sits at just over 800,000 likes, over 1 million less than Duff’s nude.
While there is praise and love, there are also endless comments about Britney’s mental health.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition when you compare Duff’s and Britney’s nudes.
At first glance, there are some obvious differences between the photos. Firstly, Duff’s photo is from a magazine cover entitled “Women’s Health,” and Britney’s photo is a selfie. Duff’s pose features her shoulders rolled in from a side-view, while Britney is pushing her cleavage towards the camera.
Britney has been under the spotlight for most of her life. She had a very publicized mental breakdown in 2007 and was put under her father’s control via a conservatorship in 2008.
After her recent win to remove herself from her father’s conservatorship, Britney has had more control over her self-image.
Experts have said that Britney’s choice to post nude photos is an exercise in empowerment.
Interestingly, research has shown that showing skin makes people think you’re a person who is less competent. There is a strange automatic process that happens in our brains when we see naked people.
Thinking and feeling are seen at two opposite ends of the spectrum and can’t coexist when we have these judgements, according to research. A naked person is automatically assumed to be more feeling and sensitive, as well as experienced. But they are also assumed to have less agency, have less self-control, and lower morals.
None of it is actually true—it’s just a judgement process that humans encounter. And it gives some food for thought when you compare Duff’s and Britney’s Instagram.
