I’ll be completely honest with you. I’ve bought a waist trainer. I’ve tried the Kylie Skin sunscreen. I have a set of KKW lip liners. Years ago, I even bought a blazer from the Sears Kard***ian Kollection (even I winced at that admission). I’m embarrassed by all of these purchases because I should have known better. I bought them because my brain sometimes tells me that what the Kard***ians are selling is real and attainable. Embarrassingly enough, in the past I have looked to their bodies as inspiration to starve myself. I haven’t bought their shitting teas or the diet pills, but at certain points of my life of course I considered them because of the sheer influence of these people who seem to have it all. Over the last fifteen years, how did we ever get onboard with such a deeply vapid, insecure, fatphobic family that profits off of the insecurity of others?
I’ve never been impressed by their empire because they have never offered us anything of value. I’d assume people started watching their show because it was enjoyable to watch hot, mean people act like privileged morons. It was supposed to be entertainment. The show tied in with the emergence of Instagram (which turned out to be the absolute worst coincidence) and it gained momentum. It produced people who weren’t stars, but wanted to be so badly that nothing else mattered. Each year, more viewers, more popularity, which led to more surgeries, more falsities, more endorsements, more credibility. A family that started out as normal (they weren’t, they were rich even in the beginning), turned into something no one could have believed could happen. It’s the same structure that catapulted Trump into office, we refused to look away from a train wreck. And this one was a beautiful train wreck.
The show became so popular because to a typical viewer, it was frivolous, messy, even fun and it also looked attainable. Even now, we continue to think that we could have these lives, if only we tried harder. That’s why we buy the lip kits. That’s why we think Khloe knows anything about denim. That’s why we learned how to over-contour when Kim showed us how to.
And of course you can argue that that’s the industry. Market a product, sell a product. There isn’t anything wrong with that idea. The part that is wrong is that this family has sold us an idea that harms us on a daily basis. The idea that our value and worth should be determined by our appearances and bank accounts. We’ve been brainwashed into believing these women hold the answers to changing our own lives. The lies behind their “working hard” mentalities are so ingrained in our perception of them because that’s constantly what they’re telling us they’re doing.
At the core of it all, we shouldn’t be idolizing people we do not know. We should not be defending them as if we know them. They show us snippets of their extravagant lives and demand praise. They are on completely different planets than we are in terms of wealth and status, so why must we also be subjected to hearing (endlessly) about their lives? If you make a certain obscene amount of money, you should have to be silent. At least for awhile. Until you’ve proven that you can be trusted with our ears. Stop telling us what to look like, what to buy, what will make us “better.” We glorify their wealth and power in a way that we actually believe they’re smart people with our best intentions at heart.
The best thing of all is when anything negative is said about this family, we’re supposed to have empathy because they’re “real people too.” And pathetically enough, I do have empathy for them at times. It bums me out to see a 24 year old who looks 35 because of the severe psychological damage her family has done to her self-worth. It bums me out that fans feel sorry for these women who certainly do not care about our personal well being. It bums me out to see women who endlessly Photoshop and alter their images because of their addiction to their bizarre understanding of “perfection.” It bums me out to think of the normalization of young girls changing themselves because of the opinions of others instead of looking inward.
This family is truly untouchable. They’re an embarrassment to North American culture, and people continue to praise, love and celebrate them. As I said before, there’s something so Trumpish about all of it. These women continue to show you who they are, they ignore the harm they’ve done, and continue to profit. No one expects them to apologize or alter their behavior because they don’t acknowledge that there ever IS anything to apologize for. Any criticism of them is put into the category of negative talk. The next time I’m arguing with my boyfriend, I should just back out of the room and claim, “I refuse to engage in your negativity!” - apparently that’s all you need to say to avoid real consequences for your actions and words. With a defense like that, it becomes completely acceptable to distance themselves from anyone who has serious problems with the destructive culture that they’ve capitalized on. It would be a genius strategy if it weren’t completely tragic and devoid of actual understanding and growth. Evidently, those qualities can’t exist in a family with extreme wealth and no moral center. If you challenge or criticize any of these women, you’re labeled simply a hater. You’re told, “As a woman, why would you take down another woman?” When you’re harming society on a daily basis, you’ve left me, a fellow woman, with no choice.
These are millionaires who literally share their lives with the public and get paid for it. No one is asking them to be perfect, this family disgustingly encourages (and profits on) the idea that you need to look a certain way to matter. They have the resources to do whatever the hell they want. They have attempted to destroy the lives of anyone who has crossed them… does that not seem insane? The amount of power we’ve given to stars of a reality show? These people do not deserve your sympathy. There are things in the headlines at least once a week about how fucked up this family is. They have taken “any press is good press” to an entirely whole new level.
Recently, for example, with Kim at the Met Gala. It is sick to proudly announce that your disordered eating made you fit into a dress. It’s profoundly sad and deeply unhealthy to promote your unwellness as an accomplishment. I would feel sorry for her if it weren’t so enraging. Imagine having all the money in the world and your main focus in life is your appearance? You can change lives with your power, influence and money, you can do anything you want and you choose vanity? Wild. Yes, it’s her body and she can do what she wants with it. My problem lies in the complete ignorance of her influence on others OR in the knowledge that she knows exactly what she’s doing and gets off on deliberately saying dumb shit that she knows we will talk about.
So what is the solution here? The only one I can come up with is out of sight, out of mind. I have every family member blocked on all socials, I have their names muted, I have the names of their partners muted. At the moment, it’s the only way that I can find some peace in a world that holds them in such a positive light. We idolize their lives, possessions, relationships, and anything that we assume to be real life, when it’s just a calculated experience perpetuated by deeply insecure, powerful women. We’re encouraged to want their lives. Some of us even root for them, even though they’re complete strangers. Smaller stomachs aren’t the answer. Private jets will not fix you. Excessive surgery and wealth will not make your life happier. This family’s purpose is to sell you ideas and things that you do not need. Whether it’s the body you don’t have, the wealth that you don’t need or the power that will not give your life meaning.
Of course their show didn’t end, they wanted more money and created a new one. They can and we let them. It doesn’t hurt me if you watch or follow them, but I think it might hurt you, whether you realize it now or not. (Yes that sounds condescending - it is. Condescension is all I have now to offer anyone who supports these people.) I’m talking about them right now and it’s what they want. If that family is talked about, they win. They’re the real life Candyman. Is it even possible to get rid of them? Probably not. Not anytime soon, for sure. But they can be made to be invisible, at least to this hater’s eyes.
