Why the Kardashians Are Worthy Feminist Icons
Despite their corsets and flawless skin.
Love them or hate them, the Kardashians are taking the media by storm year by year. They plaster their faces on every social media site. They rack up likes faster than you can say Instagram. And now their empire is taking over politics.
But a burning question persists to be asked: are the Kardashians worthy feminist icons?
Growing up, my mum, 3 sisters and I never watched the Kardashians for one reason. We had too much girl drama already.
Living with 4 other boisterous and strong females is not for the faint-hearted. My dad has long learnt to leave the house if we start a ‘girly’ argument. And my two brothers lock themselves in their rooms.
As a feminist, my love-hate relationship with the Kardashians is all too common.
That’s why I’m writing this now. For better or worse, I will finally decipher if the Kardashians are worthy feminist icons.
The Case For the Kardashians As Feminist Icons
Lawyer, lawyer.
Last year, Kim Kardashian West sparked controversy when she revealed that she was studying to become a lawyer. As a feminist, I was thrilled.
For the first time, I saw Kim advocate for women’s education.
Women make up over two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate people. We must challenge this staggering number.
The reality star’s defiance to step into a professional career is not only admirable but also inspiring.
Kim’s fight for criminal justice is not new. She’s been advocating for justice since 2017 with the Alice Marie Johnson nonviolent drug offence case.
Her perseverance is empowering for young girls who dream to be rich and beautiful. They can have a great education too. Kim Kardashian West gives little princesses permission and validation for their professional careers.
Who runs the world?
The Kardashian Empire of Girls is one that is inherently feminist.
The richest woman in the world is only the 12th richest person (Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of L’Oreal). But at least women are finally compensating for the centuries-long lack of opportunities to make money.
But we have a long meandering road left for us.
That’s why the Kardashian business and media empire are empowering. Long gone are the macho-masculine business empires.
Today, the Kardashians are showing the world that a mother and her 5 daughters can be worthy business moguls.
My body, my rules.
The Kardashian women never shy away from their sexuality and their sexual images. They take ownership of their bodies, their sexuality and their image.
Kim’s 2015 Kimoji App shows just how much sexuality plays a role in their business.
But to some feminists, this is a mark of empowerment. Finally, women get to decide what part of their bodies they want to share, without men ‘grabbing them by their pussy’.
The Case Against the Kardashians As Feminist Icons
The 1900s beauty standards.
In a Guardian article, Marie Le Conte likens the Kardashian beauty ideals to the Victorian era standards.
The Kardashians regularly sport corsets that make it hard to sit; long, impractical acrylics, and foundation-baked faces.
These beauty standards are in line with the Victorian era.
John Singer Sargent painted the Parisian socialite Virginie Gautreau as Madame X (left).
Virginie Gautreau would paint veins on her arms with indigo dye over enamel used as a foundation.
This is eerily like the modern-day contour over foundation.
The only difference is the Victorians preferred to look like pale Vampires whilst today we aim for a bit of colour.
This is far from being feminist. Men never tried to look like half-alive dolls, and women should never go to such extremes.
Sex-tapes and scandals
The Kardashians rose to fame after a 2007 sex-tape that was released without Kim’s permission.
The very nature of this makes Kim a victim of slut-shaming and denies Kim her privacy.
Yet, Kris Jenner had the genius to make the series of sex-tapes and scandals into a personal brand.
That’s why Kim’s Kimoji is such a huge success. Her provocative emojis are on-brand.
I’m torn whether to see this as smart marketing or thriving off screw-ups.
Nonetheless, I don’t see the Kardashians as feminists for doing this.
Dr Finn Mackay, a feminism researcher at the University of West England, says that feminism is about using your voice not your body to make valid points.
I agree with this. The centuries-long sexualisation and objectification of women call for our voices to be heard, not our bodies. Men have stolen our bodies with the male gaze. We can only reclaim them with our voices.
Big bucks from big bums.
Some have argued that the Kardashians only care for the singing tune of money.
Kim Kardashian West released Kimoji’s a ‘women empowerment’ collection in 2018 which created a Twitterstorm. Many saw Kim’s strategy to profit off feminism to ‘empower her bank account’, so to speak.
The Kardashian family’s reliance on plastic surgery is harming to their impressionable young audience. They feed the beauty industry that profits off insecure femininity and female body image.
Jameela Jamil called the Kardashians “wolf in sheep’s clothing” in 2018. She insisted the Kardashians built trust from other women to then sell them products and ideals that damage us.
The Verdict
When asked whether they were feminists, the Kardashian family insisted they were.
Yet, Kim Kardashian West has expressed her internal conflict with the word. In 2016, she released an essay claiming she believed in female equality but didn’t want to label herself as a feminist. She believed she didn’t “qualify as a feminist”. The same year saw Kylie Jenner embrace the label.
In 2017, Kim backpedalled on her words and said that she was, indeed, a feminist.
My heart breaks a little. It’s sad that Kim did not feel she ‘qualified’ to be a feminist.
As a feminist, I understand the desire and need for a female community. I felt that feminists around the world let Kim Kardashian West down by not making her feel welcome.
We live in a world where feminism has branched out from the basic definition of equality for men and women.
Feminism has become synonymous with men-hating, bra-burning, and nipple-freeing.
But it’s so much simpler. It’s about equality.
Looking at both sides of the coin, I conclude that the Kardashians are worthy feminist icons.
Some people like Jameela Jamil may see them as ‘double agents’. But I believe the mum and 5 sisters storm are so much more than selfie experts.
It’s true that on a superficial level, their beauty ideals are damaging. But they offer more than just big bums.
They advocate for criminal justice; they empower other women and show that women can run the world.
Fatima Sultan is a writer, tutor and, self-proclaimed nerd. She writes about life and its many excitements and disappointments. She also apparently likes referring to herself in the third person. You can read more of her writing by subscribing to her free newsletter.
