Another day, another double standard.
Jared Leto shared a nude selfie on Instagram and Twitter Thursday, and fans had a lot to say. The comments and replies on his social media posts appear to be very positive. And while that's great in and of itself — people can share whatever photos of themselves they want to online — it's also a reminder of a double standard that plenty of women in Hollywood face.
When female celebrities post nude or semi-nude photos, of their own volition, they're often met with criticism and shaming from online commenters. Amber Rose, for example, posted a pro-bush Instagram photo that got taken down from the site earlier this summer. But that didn't stop commenters — both on social media and even on this site — from criticizing the star for showing more of her body than they deemed appropriate.
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Similarly, Kim Kardashian has often been criticized for the selfies she posts online. Even Sharon Osbourne has said Kardashian's nude photos aren't feminist. "If Kim wants to show off her body, fine. But that's not feminism, that's being a ho. And there's nothing wrong with being a ho, but always remember what you are," Osbourne said in an interview with The Telegraph. It's hard to imagine someone making similar statements about a male celebrity.
And in this case, no one seems to be saying the same things to Leto. A brief scroll through his Twitter replies and Instagram comments shows people joking about becoming pregnant from the picture — but there's nothing about how he's, say, being a bad role model or showing too much of his body.
And then there's Leto's age: 45. On recent posts from 48-year-old Jennifer Lopez showing images from her Paper magazine cover, you can find nasty remarks about how older woman shouldn't be sexual mixed (and plenty about how J.Lo is #GOALS).
Leto captioned the photo "Caption this #WALKONWATER," an apparent reference to the new song from his band, 30 Seconds To Mars.
Of course, Leto shouldn't be criticized for posting this photo. But female celebrities who share similarly revealing images shouldn't be criticized either — it's their body, and they should be able to decide what to share or not share.