I’m a proud Instagram stalker. As such, it’s easy to get sucked into the rabbit hole, venturing from one page to another, collecting information and inspiration along the way. In the words of J. Cole, “Ain’t no shame bout it.” …Until I accidentally like something I didn’t want someone to see that I liked. But that’s neither here nor there. I was on a former colleague/present photographer Bryon Summers’ page looking at a recent photograph he’d taken of a woman, blogger and perhaps a model— who goes by the name @chrismiss_ on IG.
You’d be hard pressed to look at this image and not want to know more about the subject, the woman. So after looking around to see if the picture described where she got the glasses, I clicked on her username, directing me to her profile page. I scrolled down a little bit until I got to this picture.
The image is one thing but I noticed beside it, there was a lengthy caption. Typically, these type of sultry shots are self explanatory. So I was interested to know what the caption said.
one of my first Photoshoots ever …Justin just turned 3 and I was getting my sexy back. I was 23 and FREE. I was in a relationship at the time and the person wasn’t feeling the idea of me posting it ..but me being me ( I don’t do well with restrictions) I posted it anyway ( remember /react-text @_alexisgivens react-text: 41 😭) I look back , and this is like a defining moment in the history of my evolution as a person , model, creative , mother …everything. I was coming into my own , and not giving a fuck about anyone’s opinion.🔥 so question …because I loveeee topics like these 👉🏾👉🏾Your girl posts a picture like this online , are you mad or nah, why or why not? 👈🏾👈🏾 👉🏾👉🏾You take a picture youre proud of and your significant asks you not to post ..you posting or nah? 👈🏾👈🏾
I immediately read that and thought BOYFRIEND?! But let me not get ahead of myself. If you ask me, one of the biggest problems in relationships is people trying to seek power and control, when a relationship is the last place you should be trying to restrain or restrict someone, particularly with something, in this case an image, your partner takes pride in. And I don’t necessarily believe that a partner who knows you well should prevent you from sharing something you’re proud of, there’s something to be said about giving that much authority over your decisions to someone who hasn’t committed to being in your life on a permanent basis.
What do you guys think about this? Would you keep from posting a picture because your boyfriend didn’t approve?
Veronica Wells is the culture editor at MadameNoire.com. She is also the author of “Bettah Days.” You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter @VDubShrug.
