Baring it all: Britney Spears and Hilary Duff spark debate on how we react to nudity
<p dir="ltr">Taking part in a nude photo shoot has been an easy way for celebrities to go viral for years now, but the latest risque photoshoot of <em>Lizzie Mcguire</em> star Hilary Duff has raised some questions about how our reactions can differ depending on who the subject is.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5a98dc54-7fff-7d65-163e-b4111461ebe4">Duff, who starred on the hit Disney show when she was just 14, recently went viral for her Women’s Health magazine cover shoot, which was accompanied by a candid interview where she discussed body positivity and acceptance, and opened up about her eating disorder and the pressure she felt to look a certain way.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr">“Because of my career path, I can’t help but be like, ‘I am on camera and actresses are skinny’,” she told the magazine.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I’m proud of my body. I’m proud that it’s produced three children for me. I’ve gotten to a place of being peaceful with the changes my body has gone through.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I also want people to know a makeup artist was there putting glow all over my body and someone put me in the most flattering position.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The 34-year-old actress received a flood of praise for her “liberating” shoot and for being a “badass gorgeous woman”, with one person describing it as a “perfect example of how a childhood star can actually grow up to be a well-adjusted, loving, ‘normal’, strong and fantastic example of a working woman and human in entertainment and beyond”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But the praise has come in stark contrast to the reactions other stars have received for sharing similar images, with pop icon Britney Spears being a prime example.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1dd1dae4-7fff-a1a0-cbee-11d3a8c062c0"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Spears has been posting minimally censored photos of herself on Instagram for the past few months and has previously explained she was doing so in a bid to reclaim her body after feeling constrained under her 13-year conservatorship.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">However, the slew of images she’s self-shared on social media have attracted more of a negative response in comparison to Duff, with some critics calling the photos “disturbing” and “embarrassing”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In a now-deleted Instagram caption on a post from earlier this year, Spears defended her images, writing: “Alrightyyy then folks… showing my bod in French Polynesia as a rebel and free WOMAN!!!!!”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-86a760f8-7fff-c652-efc8-b06bde07c271"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">“I WILL DO BIG LETTERS CAUSE I THINK THAT MEANS IT’S IMPORTANT AND I DON’T WANT TO BE LEFT OUT.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Spot the difference.</p>
<p>You just love to criticize Britney Spears for everything she does. Jus admit it. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/britneyspears?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#britneyspears</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hilaryduff?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hilaryduff</a> <a href="https://t.co/U3eUsz2ti1">pic.twitter.com/U3eUsz2ti1</a></p>
<p>— Dolly Arthur (@DollyArthur_) <a href="https://twitter.com/DollyArthur_/status/1524107226549469185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">Fans have begun questioning the difference between reactions to Spears’ and Duff’s photos, with some noting that the difference in image quality - Duff’s glamorous magazine shoot versus Spears’ low-quality photos seemingly taken with a mobile phone - may be part of the reason.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I adore Hilary and she looks incredible, but the difference in comments on her post compared to Britney doing the same thing is astounding,” one popular tweet reads.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-55b14785-7fff-df25-441a-161c2e75b7d8"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">“People are so brainwashed by social media that they think nudity is wrong unless you’ve hired a photographer,” they added.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I adore Hilary and she looks incredible, but the difference in comments on her post compared to Britney doing the same thing is astounding.</p>
<p>People are so brainwashed by social media that they think nudity is wrong unless you've hired a photographer and glam team. <a href="https://t.co/QCII2KSfAp">pic.twitter.com/QCII2KSfAp</a></p>
<p>— Fan Account (@breatheonmiley) <a href="https://twitter.com/breatheonmiley/status/1524089441899397122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">“Both Britney Spears and Hilary Duff look amazing. Just because one was professionally photographed shouldn’t make a difference,” someone else tweeted.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Another user shared a screenshot of their Twitter feed, showing a headline about the mixed reaction to Spears’ nudity above one from TMZ that reads: “You NEED to see these photos of Hilary Duff in the buff!”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Stop policing women’s bodies… except Britney Spears!” they captioned the image.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Hilary Duff posts a nuded photoshoot and everyone praises her, Britney Spears posts her own nudes from her phone and she’s shamed. Can someone explain the difference?” another person tweeted.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Britney Spears and Hilary Duff trending today in a ‘you painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her’ vs ‘put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting “vanity”, morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure’ kind of way,” a third said.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c1962d61-7fff-ff49-1cf8-43fe37da2f87"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">The debate around this double standard comes amid a wider debate about how female celebrities have been held to particular standards in the past, such as former Disney star Miley Cyrus who was forced to publicly apologise for a 2008 Vanity Fair photoshoot that was deemed too risque by Disney.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">IM NOT SORRY</p>
<p>Fuck YOU <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/10yearsago?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#10yearsago</a> <a href="https://t.co/YTJmPHKwLX">pic.twitter.com/YTJmPHKwLX</a></p>
<p>— Miley Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) <a href="https://twitter.com/MileyCyrus/status/990682726440226817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2018</a></p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">The singer and actress later retracted the apology, sharing a photo of a New York Post newspaper from 2008 with the headline “Miley’s Shame” to Twitter in 2018.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I’M NOT SORRY. F***K YOU,” she captioned the post.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Though the praise for Duff and other celebrities - such as 78-year-old model <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/beauty-style/lauren-hutton-poses-topless" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lauren Hutton</a> - who engage in topless or nude photoshoots is a good thing and a sign that the times might be changing, the reactions the likes of Spears receive for similar images shows that we still have a problem with female nudity - and that there is plenty of work left to be done.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-89ee2454-7fff-19fd-16c6-d66fd5cf7b24"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Images: @britneyspears (Instagram) / @hilaryduff (Instagram) / @harpersbazaaraus (Instagram)</em></p>
