In a recent photoshoot for Interview magazine, Keira Knightley went topless with one condition: her breasts be shown as they are, with no use of Photoshop.
In an interview with Time magazine, Knightly said her body is often altered, but this time she wasn’t having it.
Knightley told Time that she agreed to the shoot with these specific stipulations, “because it does feel important to say it really doesn’t matter what shape you are.”
She explained that on many occasions she has had the image of her body manipulated and contorted without her permission, lending to the idea that “women’s bodies are a battleground.”
The Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board applauds Knightley for reclaiming the image of her own body. This is a much-needed step toward normalizing natural breasts.
Her image, and her breasts in particular, was infamously photoshopped in the “King Arthur” movie poster in 2004 to look larger than they naturally were. This is just one example of how female celebrities often have their body image taken and contorted to perpetuate false expectations for what female bodies should look like.
This photoshoot for Interview magazine is a way to reclaim her body image and have it stand for a more inclusive and realistic statement about women’s bodies.
Admittedly, Knightley’s slim body type is glorified in media, but she is in a position to make a stand for representing whatever body you have and not being ashamed or made to falsely ?represent yourself.
With this photoshoot, Knightley not only makes a move for body acceptance but also for the idea of reclaiming the female body from shame.
For too long, the female body has been treated as inappropriate or vulgar.
The media over-sexualizes female bodies, and then the women themselves have to deal with the backlash when society inevitably starts name-calling.
Society wants female celebrities to be seen as sexual objects and women such as Knightley are tired of adhering to those wishes.
Breasts are a natural part of the female body, and female bodies do not belong to the public. A woman’s choice to share her body, or not, should be completely her own.
This statement is especially important in the wake of leaked nude photos of multiple female starlets. These women had their bodies used against them and displayed to the public against their will.
This is another example of how the media feels the right to claim female bodies for their own use and consumption. This is not a right that anyone has.
A person’s body is theirs to be shown or not shown as they please. The best way to make this clear is through the reclaiming of female bodies, to present them as natural and normal.
Female bodies today are a public battleground, but Knightley and women everywhere are fighting for their right to their own bodies, so that one day female bodies can be nothing more than just that.
