If there is anything anyone knows about Kanye West, more so than his major ego or hip hop prowess, it’s his obsession with his wife and his tendency to show her off—perhaps too much.
West has referenced his love for Kim Kardashian even before the pair was officially together. He has embraced her sex tape scandal in his music and he has insisted that his reality star lover is more influential than Michelle Obama and a greater fashion icon than any other woman alive.
West, like many other men in the recent digital age, is struggling to resist oversharing his relationship and parading his partner around on social media like a grade-A trophy whose sexuality is the sole deciding factor on whether or not he is “lucky” to be in her life.
On Monday, West tweeted several nude photos of the curvy reality star from what appeared to a professional photoshoot.
Under each new nude image he wrote “SWISH!!!!!!”
Under another one he wrote, “I’M SO LUCKY.”
This was followed by another nude photo with the caption, “CONGRATS BABY ON THE SHOW PREMIERE LAST NIGHT” and then “CONGRATS BABY ON 30 MILLION TWITTER FOLLOWERS.”
As if sharing the images weren’t questionable enough, West made it a point to congratulate his wife on being a social media socialite.
The core of his public admiration was focused on his wife’s sexuality and admiration of millions of strangers.
While West has once boasted about his girl becoming a “super star all from a home movie,” there hasn’t been any concern or emphasis on intelligence, morality, motherhood or other qualities that one might think a man would admire and look for in the woman he loves.
It’s a troubling trend that has become increasingly popular on social media.
Whether it’s a #WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday) post or just a typical daily post, many men are touting their partners online as they are dressed in intimates or donning nothing more than the tiniest of bikinis.
Each post typically being accompanied by a caption that highlights a sense of possession over the woman or how fortunate the young man must be to be with the nearly nude woman in the photo.
A post from Psychology Today explains how this can create serious problems for both men and women who are engaged in such practices.
“A byproduct of women’s objectification can occur when certain women become reluctant to look too competent—potentially threatening the men in their lives—and so dress in ways that they think men will find sexy,” the article explains. “…When self-esteem becomes largely dependent on how sexy one looks—and not how intelligent, kind, friendly, or inwardly attractive one is—other problems result, especially in their interactions with the men in their lives, who themselves may have become conditioned to objectify women.”
The article adds that “social media presents us with countless opportunities” to engage the very activities that focus too heavily on physical attributes and leave women feeling objectified.
The social media phenomena has been common in many online communities but it could be particularly harmful for Black women who are already constantly being hypersexualized and objectified in mainstream media.
While Kim praised her beau for sharing her nude photos, there is far too much evidence that suggests the growing trend of touting women on social media as sexually pleasing feats rather than adored women in meaningful relationships is detrimental to the self-esteem of countless women and the ability for the younger generation to form successful relationships.
