For those people who know me, they know that I am an avid Kardashian supporter. I watch their show, I have their apps, and I thoroughly enjoy "keeping up" with them. Unfortunately, I get a lot of grief for it. "They have no talent," "they're only famous for their bodies," "they are what is wrong with society." I hear these negative statements, and many, many others, when I express my admiration for them. I usually ignore it and let people think what they want, it is almost never worth the argument. I'm not going to change someone's opinion by arguing (and you won't change mine either *cough, cough*).
Recently, Kim Kardashian West posted a naked selfie on her Instagram. When I first saw it, I scrolled right past it. It honestly did not phase me and I didn't think there was anything controversial about it. It wasn't until a few days later until I heard about all the crap that went on because of it. Let's start off by saying, every single time any member of that family posts a picture they get an insane amount of hate. Everyone and their frickin' brother feels the need to put them down when they get the chance, even when it's a picture of a salad (like, come on people). This time, was not any different. Kim received hate from regular joe-shmo's, and even fellow celebrities like Chloe Grace Mortez and Pink, complaining about how she is setting a bad example for today's youth.
Even though Kim receives hate every single day, this time, she actually had something to say about it. She pulled a number from her husband, Kanye West's, playbook and went on a twitter rant calling out these famous celebs that had something to say about her. This created a divide between the Kardashian supporters and the rest of the world. On Kim's side, people were claiming that she was being body positive and actually setting a good example for how to love your bodies no matter what. On the other side, people were complaining that Kim is nothing but a sex symbol and is good for nothing but selling her body. Being the Kardashian supporter that I am, I am on Kim's side. I wanted to take this controversial selfie and use it to explain why I love the Kardashians and why I love what they stand for.
First of all, I wanted to put it out there that yes, they are relevant because of the sex tape Kim made with Ray J. I understand that and I understand that making a sex tape is not a very good example to set. However, that sex tape was released without her consent. Should she have made it in the first place? Probably not. But, what I love about the Kardashian family is how they bounced back from it.
The Kardashians didn't sit on their butts and cry about how terrible it was that a family member made a sex tape. They instead decided to make a reality show about their huge family and all the crazy antics that came from it. Do you know how many reality shows are on television? I would argue that there are close to 100 different reality shows and competitions that you can choose from (seriously, there are 9 different "Real Housewives" shows). "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" easily could have been successful for a few seasons and faded away. However, it didn't. KUWTK just wrapped up it's 11th season and season 12 is airing in May. Along with KUWTK, they also made five different spin offs, such as "Khloe and Kourtney take Miami," "Kim and Kourtney take New York," and "Khloe and Lamar." KUWTK is arguably the most successful reality television show to ever air. How is that not talent? Keeping a show alive requires both brains and talent.
Another reason why I love the Kardashians is their vulnerability and their ability to relate to the average person. No, not everyone is worth millions and millions of dollars. But, people have fertility issues like Kim, people struggle with their weight like Khloe, and people struggle with break ups like Kourtney. Along with that, not everyone can be the world's greatest singer or actress. You can't really relate to Leonardo Dicaprio, but you can admire him for his talents. Yet, you can relate with the business women that are the Kardashians. No, they are not just sex symbols, they are also business women. They have a clothing store with three different locations across the country, a beauty line, an adult clothing line and a children's clothing line, apps that have new content everyday, video games, books, etc. They created an entire franchise off of one leaked sex tape and they became some of the most followed people on social media. Why? Because they are relatable.
I thoroughly do not believe Kim should have gotten as much backlash as she did. She has made her road to losing weight after giving birth very public and by posting that selfie, she was only sharing how proud she was of her body at one point. I believe that if more people posted about how they proud they were of their body, curves and all, less young girls would feel ashamed about the way they look. Even if Kim's initial thought wasn't about being body positive, it came off that way and that is not something we should shame. It is time that we stopped shaming people for their past mistakes and celebrating them for what they are doing right. Loving your body is something worth being celebrated. Just because she made a sex tape 13 years ago does not mean that she has to wear a scarlet "A" for the rest of her life. Let's give credit where credit is due.
I know some people disagree with how they live their life, and that is fine. All I am saying is that talent is interpretable, everyone has a body that they should love and embrace, and that there are far worse things going on in society today. The Kardashians are not the bane of everyone'e existence, so we should stop treating them like that. Maybe you don't approve of posting a naked selfie, so don't post one on your own account. The more we preach acceptance and the less we shame people for what they believe in, the better we will be as a society.
