Nick Jonas drops trou and proves what society thinks: Boys will be boys and girls will be sluts.
Jonas recently stripped down for Flaunt magazine and, while the pictures aren’t full-frontal nudity, they certainly aren’t something you’d bring home to show your mother. The pics have received an overall positive response, unlike the heinous name-calling that has previously been bestowed on his female counterparts for similar behavior and imagery.
More than a handful. @nickjonas channels Mark Wahlberg in the latest issue of @FlauntMagazine. #mycalvins#tbtpic.twitter.com/g8suojpSyB
— calvinklein (@CalvinKlein) October 2, 2014
There’s no doubt about one thing: Jonas looks hot. Abs, biceps, cool facial expressions… the whole shebang. He’s grabbing his crotch area in one image, which is a little graphic if you ask me, but the issue here is not about whether the pictures are offensive or not; the issue is that he’s gotten a resounding “hubba, hubba” response, whereas Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus have all gotten shamed for not-so-dissimilar images.
We’ve come so far as a society over the past century to equalize the playing field as far as gender equality is concerned. But it’s instances such as these that make it clear that we’ve still got a long way to go.
10 Things that are as big as Nick Jonas’ junk
The double standard is overwhelming. For every “Nick Jonas: More than a handful” headline from TMZ, there’s a “Miley Cyrus: What’s in her crotch this time?” headline on the same website. For every “Shirtless Nick Jonas shows off his hot body — you gotta see this new pic!” on E!, there’s a “Miley Cyrus wears pasties instead of a shirt, continues being shocking” from the Huffington Post. For every “Nick Jonas grabs himself & flaunts butt in sexy new photo shoot” from Hollywood Life, there’s a “Gross photos! Rihanna, you’ve got a wedgie and crotch cleavage” from the same outlet.
We’re at a unique time in history. Women have the same basic legal rights as men and we’re “allowed” to work, but we’re still looked down upon, shamed and attacked for our sexuality. The power pendulum is swinging, however, and society is taking notice. The recent attacks on female celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst and Iggy Azalea are, in my opinion, a device being used to try to keep women in place.
But we, as women, are doing it to ourselves, too. Just look at social media. Miley Cyrus recently posted a black and white picture to Instagram in which she is topless and has Photoshopped daisies over her nipples.
https://instagram.com/p/tl6dlSwzAq
Granted, she doesn’t have a shirt on, but the photo is artistic in nature. The comments coming from female Instagram users include “Ewww stop,” “Die bitch,” “Slut,” “Gross #slut,” “You look like a little boy @mileycyrus lmao” and “I miss the old Miley.”
Whereas Jonas posts the following photo and gets responses from women like “*sprinkles holy water* JESSSSUUUUUS,” “you are sooo sexy” and “He grew up nicely.”
View this post on Instagram
While many question and throw shade at Cyrus’ behavior, the performer actually has a very well thought-out response to her haters. “I just want equality for everybody,” Cyrus said in an interview with Elle magazine earlier this year. “I still don’t think we’re there 100 percent. I mean, guy rappers grab their crotch all f***ing day and have hos around them, but no one talks about it. But if I grab my crotch and have hot model bitches around me, I’m degrading women? I’m a woman — I should be able to have girls around me! But I’m part of the evolution of that. I hope.”
Miley Cyrus’ self-proclaimed title: World’s biggest feminist
We, as women, experience sexism every day. We still get it from men who are well-intentioned, even men who love us — the guy who makes us feel uncomfortable by making an unsolicited remark about our personal appearance in public when he thinks he’s complimenting us, the guy who won’t take no for an answer when we say we are OK with a physically laborious task, little “jokes” made at a woman’s expense. They are everywhere and they all add up.
I’m guilty of dissing on female celebrities, too. I think we all just need to keep one question in the back of our minds when we start to pass judgment on a woman: If this person was a man, would these thoughts even be floating through my head?
Leave a Comment