No Filter

Kim Kardashian posted a photo captioned "#NoFilter" and the internet briefly forgot how to function. The image: Kim, 32, in a white bodycon outfit, photographed from an angle that left no ambiguity about her proportions. Her head is approximately one-third the size of her ass. No filter. No apology. Just geometry.

I don’t particularly follow Kim Kardashian. She occupies a corner of pop culture I usually scroll past. But this image stopped me, and it stopped everyone else, and I think the reason is that it’s not really about fame or sex appeal—it’s about confidence operating at a frequency most people can’t receive. There’s something almost aggressive about "#NoFilter." It’s a dare. It’s a refusal. It’s someone saying: here’s exactly what I look like, and I know exactly what you’re going to do about it.

What I did about it: sat with a very specific kind of envy I can’t fully explain and didn’t particularly enjoy. Kanye West is, I think, a lucky man. I’m going home and eating well. It’s the only reasonable response.