There Is Nothing Wrong With Willow Smith's 'Topless' Photo

Elise Solé
Updated
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Photo by Instagram/Willow Smith

Fact: Willow Smith did not pose topless. Still, the world freaked on Thursday when the 14-year-old posted an Instagram shot of herself wearing a vintage Jean-Paul Gaultier turtleneck imprinted with a topless woman’s torso.

Willow Smith is “raising eyebrows,” “stirring up controversy”  and “a parent’s nightmare,” according to the (over) reactions from the media. One website even called the shirt “dangerous.” Some declare that Smith has joined the “free the nipple” equality campaign; others argue that the shirt sexualizes young girls; many speculate whether the whole thing is a publicity stunt. But all this is moot, because Willow deleted the post.

Let’s clear up some things: Willow is a 14-year-old girl. A very rich and famous 14-year-old girl and the daughter of actor Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, one of Hollywood’s most powerful couples. And (for better or worse), Willow is an entertainer in her own right, having racked up dozens of awards for her music and film accolades. However, celebrity or not, are we really shocked that a teenage girl is pushing the fashion envelope? Willow wasn’t stepping out of a limo sans underwear, smoking pot onstage (Hi, Miley), nor was she posing naked on a magazine cover.

Break the Internet, she did not.

As many like to point out, Willow has a history of scandalous behavior. In May, she tweeted a photo of herself and 20-year-old Hannah Montana actor Moisés Arias. Willow was sprawled on a bed, fully clothed, and facing away from Arias. The pair also weren’t touching. But people flipped out because Arias was shirtless and they were on a bed together. I don’t know about you, but when I was a teenager and hung out at a friend’s house, we chilled on the bed, not at the dining room table.

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In a post-selfie world where the average age for first-time sex is 17 and teen pregnancy rates are still too high, the sexualization of young girls is a serious matter. But so are the endless mixed messages that bombard teen girls about their clothing, bodies, and sexual rights. The same audience that’s breathlessly followed the love lives of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez since they were 16 and 18, respectively, and clicks on 16-year-old Kylie Jenner’s “bikini pics,” is the same one that’s condemning Willow for — sorry — wearing a turtleneck. Our shock and fascination says more about us as a culture than it does about Willow’s fashion choices. The term “slut-shaming” comes to mind.

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Some parents argue that Willow is a role model. However, bestowing such responsibility on a 14-year-old child is unfair to say the least. The job of a celebrity is to entertain, not raise the children of the world. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, notorious for their laid-back parenting philosophy, might agree. "I want to give them the opportunity to make mistakes and learn how to put boundaries on themselves," Pinkett Smith told Health magazine in September. “So by the time they’re out of the house, they fly.” And in 2012, when Willow bucked conventional beauty standards and shaved her head, Pinkett Smith nailed it by writing on Facebook,“This is a world where women, girls are constantly reminded that they don’t belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are HER domain.”

Sounds like solid parenting advice.

So, don’t worry about Willow Smith, quantum physics lover and prana energy expert. She’ll be just fine.

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