OK, I cannot believe that I am about to write about the Kardashians, but something recently brought to my attention has been bothering me lately…
I really try to avoid feeding into either the hate or worship of celebrities which ultimately only ends up giving them more power. I really do. As far as I’m concerned, the Kardashians can continue to air their TV show, marry, remarry, star in their own iPhone game, appear in photo shoots, and document their lives on social media. Whatever they choose to do with their money, bodies, relationships, or fame does not affect me, nor does it affect the majority of us.
However, I just cannot roll with the fact that they willingly and consciously promote waist trainers and chemical-heavy diet shakes/pills/etc on social media for their own commercial gain. I have seen Kylie, Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, and Kendall pose in and promote waist trainers, the newest descendants of corsets that claim to shrink your waist, in their photos on Instagram. The Kardashians easily have one of the biggest followings on social media, most of whom are teenage girls and young women. So, just for a minute, let’s forget about the devastating effects on one’s mental health of a physical thing on your body that enforces the idea that there’s something inherently wrong with you. Let’s forget about how it can distort one’s self perception and be the first link in a dangerous, unhealthy chain of behavior. Instead, let’s talk about the fact that waist trainers are well-known for their disastrous physical risks to one’s health. According to a recent article entitled “Total Waist” in the magazine Teen Vogue, these garments have been known to crush the liver and kidneys into the rib cage, injure digestive organs, and lead to “threatening ailments like stomach ulcers and esophagitis.” Waist trainers also compress lungs, meaning that “this type of air compression over eight hours a day -the average recommended wear time -can result in light-headedness, dizziness, nausea, and fainting.”
These medical findings aren’t new or surprising to most people, and the mental and emotional effects that it can have can be deciphered pretty intuitively. Yet, with this knowledge, these celebrities still continue to promote them for the minuscule (in comparison to what they already make) amount of money they receive in return. The Kardashian and Jenner sisters are considered to embody society’s beauty ideal, and on any one of their Instagram pictures, you can find endless amounts of comments from their young, impressionable female followers writing things such as “GOALS,” or something along the lines of “I wish I looked like that!” The influence of these women and the vulnerability of teenagers on the internet is undeniable, yet the Kardashian and Jenner sisters have decided to promote a destructive product instead of a more meaningful one, or even no product at all.
I know that this probably seems incredibly naive. “What do you mean, celebrities don’t always have their fans’ best interest in mind? What do you mean, they’re only looking out for themselves? What do you mean, the Kardashians aren’t social activists and known for being morally sound people?” But doesn’t it kind of suck that the people on top can be that manipulative and selfish? It sucks, yes, but to a certain extent, it is inevitable. However, we don’t have to fall into these traps. On social media, we can be objective, we can think about the long-term effects of short-term solutions, and we have the power to support game-changers, positive role models, and new ideas with the click of a button.
In the wake of a viral video featuring a sobbing Essena O’Neil talking about how being famous on social media led to her breakdown, it is all too easy to label social media as toxic and evil, destroying human relationships and leading to a frenzy of developmental problems in adolescents. Though this may be simple and convenient to believe, social media is far from evil. In fact, if one completely dismisses social media, they are cutting themselves off from an array of creative, innovative, intellectual, career-oriented, and social opportunities. If anything, technological advances in our society have enhanced life and given people opportunities that they may not have had otherwise. Social media, like any other platform, can be used positively or negatively; it is simply a matter of how we choose to use this new tool. As of now, social media is drastically shaping the 2016 presidential campaign, and sites such as The Odyssey are giving ordinary students around the world the opportunity to gain work experience and share their voices on social, political, and economic issues at the same time. In addition, I find comfort in the fact that I can see pictures of my baby cousin who lives in Canada on Facebook, keep in touch with my sister who studies in a different country via tweets, and that my friend can Skype her relatives in Taiwan.
Ultimately, social media is not inherently evil, but how we choose to use it and who we choose to give power to can twist this positive platform into a negative one. Whether you are someone with a following or a mere follower, we all have an immense amount of responsibility online. In our smartphones, laptops, and palms of our hands, we have the potential to influence other people’s beliefs, provide accurate or inaccurate information, and change how people perceive others and themselves. Let’s use it wisely.
