Bec Judd bikini selfie controversy. Discuss.

On Friday night, Channel 9 weather presenter and mother of two, Rebecca Judd posted the following image of herself:

The reason for this selfie was – according to Judd-  to disply her organic spray tan.

She captioned it like this:

If you are a celebrity in 2014 and even if you’re not, selfies are a legitimate form of communication and self-expression. We get that.

The question is, what’s actually being expressed here?

We aren’t going to pass comment. But Judd’s 196K followers (many of them mothers) had a lot to say.

In 3 hours, the photo generated 3.5K likes and 615 comments.

The reaction was very divided.

An argument quickly broke out in the comments on Judd’s Instagram account between those who thought she “looks amazing” and those who were concerned about her physical health, claiming the mother of two (including a six month old baby) looks worryingly thin.

A sample of the comments from her followers:

After reading the praise and the backlash and then the backlash against the backlash, we got a headache and had to go and have a bowl of ice cream and  lie down.

So. What have we learned today? That women’s bodies will always be conversational currency. That women’s reasons for posting selfies are complex while not always being openly declared. That the reaction to a bikini selfie will always be major – squared if you are a mother.

That people’s definitions of a ‘hot body’ are very very different.

And that if you post a selfie of your body in a bikini like this, it’s difficult to object or act surprised or outraged when the result is……a lot of commentary about your body in a bikini.