For anyone who's managed to sleep through the last week, notorious provocateur Kim Kardashian posted a nude on Twitter
on Monday, with some strategic censor bars to avoid running afoul of
the powers that be. Twitter promptly exploded with a range of comments,
many of which were sexist and misogynistic, and, at least publicly, she
was pretty amused by the response.
She's
a grown woman and she can put whatever she wants on her Twitter
account, but I shouldn't need to tell you that. People who dislike Kim
Kardashian or don't want to see pictures of her probably shouldn't be
following her on Twitter. But those who want to trash her for taking
control of her body and her public image should perhaps consider the
fact that when they write her off as vapid and superficial, they're
erasing her tremendous accomplishments as a businesswoman.
All
people should be free to take as many selfies as they like, in whatever
state of dress, and this is particularly loaded for women, who are
constantly reminded that most of the time, they don't get to be in
control of how their bodies are shown, or seen.
Kardashian
sits at a strange intersection of cultural issues, as her body is part
of her business, and she's also well aware that like any conventionally
attractive woman, she's a figure of objectification. She's chosen to
leverage that objectification in an act of defiance, which is
commendable on its own, but also? She makes a huge amount of money, and
few people talk about that (unless they're making fun of how she's
making it).
In a commentary on the situation, Kardashian said:
...In all seriousness, I never understand why people get so bothered by what other people do with their lives. I don't do drugs, I hardly drink, I've never committed a crime — and yet I'm a bad role model for being proud of my body?...I am empowered by my body. I am empowered by my sexuality. I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin...I hope that through this platform I have been given, I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world...It's 2016. The body-shaming and slut-shaming, it's like, enough is enough.
She
noted that she's an entrepreneur, among many other things, and it's
this that I find particularly important. Lots of people reduce Kim to
her body, or brush her off as a vapid reality star, but that's entirely
unfair. Yes, she's very attractive, and yes, she stars in a reality
show, but she built up an $85 million empire and is definitely doing
better than a certain presidential candidate I won't name on the whole
not-running-businesses-into-the-ground front. In 2011, Glamour named her
"Entrepreneur of the Year." She's been invited to speak around the world on her business ventures, projects, and collaborations.
Kardashian is an extremely savvy businesswoman and she has been since her teens.
She was fortunate enough to learn a lot about financial literacy from
her parents, and she grew up in relative privilege, which definitely
gave her a head start on building her business acumen. She's involved in
television development, fashion, beauty, and publishing, mostly from a
celebrity and entertainment angle.
She has also, of course, developed
herself as a brand, but that's a sound business decision — Coco Chanel
is a brand. Alexander McQueen was a brand. Taylor Swift is a brand.
Hell, Shakespeare was a brand. Lots of public figures have built up
their businesses around themselves, and some are treated with more
disdain than others.
The Kardashian family as a
whole has built their profile through accessibility, adept social media
outreach, and brand extension. This is the kind of advice people
routinely give to businesses across a broad swath of industries, but for
some reason, it seems to really bother someone when a business
organization helmed by women puts these basic principles into practice.
Just
a few of the things Kim Kardashian has been involved in over the years:
A very successful reality television show and spinoffs; very profitable
endorsement deals; fashion lines in major stores around the world;
publishing, with last April's Selfish; athletic shoes; video games; perfume; makeup; jewelry; retail stores; and shoes.
Notice
some themes there? She's built up her fortune around products and media
for the most part traditionally associated with women, and therefore
lesser and weak. If she'd made her fortune in tech, or the biosciences,
or publishing "real" books, people would likely be singing a very
different tune.
Women who do make their fortunes
in those fields typically aren't as objectified as Kardashian, but
that's because these industries aren't about how you look. For
Kardashian, her body is both her body and to a certain extent a business
investment — like a pianist's hands, or a ballerina's legs. She works
very hard to make herself look the way she does, and she celebrates her
body online and off because it's part of pitching the lifestyle that she
markets as part of her brand.
Her success is
also a direct confrontation of the sex tape that launched her into the
public eye, a sort of "okay, if you're going to objectify me because of a
video that came out a decade ago, here you go."
You
buy clothes or makeup or shoes or any number of other things from the
Kardashians because they embody something important to you — or you
don't, because that lifestyle doesn't interest you. Kardashian's
conscious decision to build an empire around her life, and her body, was
a smart business move. It's not one available to all women, and it's
not one all women are interested in, but that doesn't mean she should be
derided for it.
It's extremely telling that
Kardashian gets trashed on the regular for being involved in an industry
that many people identify as petty and superficial. The fact that
Kardashian's celebrity, brand, and financial empire is heavily rooted in
these industries makes her a popular figure of snide commentary —
including among those who know better. I'm far more interested in the
fact that Kardashian has struck out for herself to make her own
footprint in an industry where men often dominate behind the scenes,
even if women are the face of campaigns.
That's
what she's role modeling, and what should impress people — she's showing
women and girls that they should go for what they want in life, and
that there's nothing wrong with loving fashion and the entertainment
industry.