I never thought there would be a day I'd be writing an article on Kendall Jenner, but here it goes.
I'm sure if you clicked on this article it's because you keep up with the Kardashians and have been recently bombarded with the outrage over Kendall's ballet Vogue Espana video.
As a ballerina and a lover of dance, I'm going to tell you why I could care less that Kendall posed in pointes.
Ballet is an extremely rigorous form of art. Ballerinas are posed and beautiful on the stage, but get a closer look and you'll see the sweat, the blisters, bunions, missing toe nails. twisted ankles, stress fractures, and strict schedules. Ballet is arguably one of the most physically difficult and demanding passions. Not only do you have to sweat and endure the pain every day, you have to make it look easy.
So if Vogue Espana was trying to celebrate ballet itself, then yes I agree it was stupid to choose Kendall. But even if that was the case, and not just a whimsical video about being fun and free, I don't think Kendall dressing up as a ballerina is an issue.
The real issue is Millennials and their obsession with taking offense.
So many social media Millennial gurus spend time finding things to get upset about, things they can't even relate to or identify with ethnically or culturally. It's incredulous that so many people, many of them not even dancers, chose to be offended by this video of Kendall. It's even more outrageous to go so far as to say the Kendall (not Vogue?) is appropriating ballet.
Now that's completely ridiculous. She's a model and she does what she's told. Not that she isn't responsible for her actions or what she chooses to support, but Kendall isn't making her career out of appropriating ballet. If that were true, then every time an actor or model put on a costume and stood before the camera, they'd have to be accused of appropriating whatever they dressed up as.
I'm not offended by this video because I think there's a lot more cultural appropriation to get offended about. What I do like about this video is the fact that Kendall wasn't completely over-sexualized or objectified like models usually are. Honestly, when I first watched this video before all the bashing, I enjoyed it's portrayal of someone who wasn't a dancer enjoying dance freely as a child does, regardless of their training or natural talent.
If you really have to find something to get offended about, focus on a people group that's actually undergoing oppression and could use your voice and support. Hint: That doesn't include ballerinas.























