Six thoughts I have about Kim Kardashian

I am resenting the world right now for forcing me to care about Kim Kardashian’s (most-recent) naked selfie post. Because deep down, in my heart of hearts, I don’t care about Kim Kardashian’s naked selfie post. But everyone else does! And as is often the case, it’s when other people start weighing in with their thoughts and cares and Very Important Opinions, that issues and conversations related to naked celebrity selfies become interesting.

First, let’s review!

Kim K posts naked selfie:

Several celebrities say things:

Kim K defends herself:

https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/707077609964699648

Miley Cyrus weighs in:

Amber Rose and Pink weigh in:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCvP5njkq5K/

Damn Pink we were all born naked society sexualizes our breast and bodies. If a grown mother of 2 is comfortable with her body and wants to show it off that's none of ur business or anyone else's. Now, if u wanna talk to kids and be a mentor to young teens, tell them to go to school and to not use their bodies to get ahead?! I'm all for it! But please as a grown woman let another grown woman live as she wishes. That's our problem! We're so quick to down each other instead of uplifting! Pink, We've seen u damn near naked swinging from a rope( Beautifully) but what's the difference between a rope, a pole and a pic on Instagram? Classism. Because u sing while ur half naked does that make it "Classy" or is it because u have a "talent"? I'm not dissing at all Pink just curious after u said "You'll never have to make a silly excuse for yourself".

A photo posted by Amber Rose (@amberrose) on

Kim uses naked selfie brouhaha (and International Women’s Day) to sell product:

Internet conclusion:

Kim is liberated! Women are liberated! LIBERATION FOR EVERYONE!

Whew. So many tweets! So many liberations! I’ll make this quick:

1) Kim K is a marketing genius! By which I mean, of course, she is well aware that posting naked selfies is an excellent way to further her bank account and celebrity. Now is a good time to remind everyone that the only reason Kim is famous is because she decided she wanted to be famous. Her most notable skill is the ability to be a celebrity, to gain public attention, and to profit from said attention.

2) Kim K does not deserve to be shamed for her sex tape. Which, apparently, people still like to do. Move on. I also don’t think it’s useful, interesting, or necessary to tell her to put her clothes back on. Kim K is not ever going to put her clothes back on.

3) Kim K does not post naked selfies of herself in order to liberate women from oppression. She does it for her career. Kim has the right to build a career however she likes, but the fact that she is successful at this does not necessarily make her a role-model for women. In other words, her self-objectification is not helpful to anyone, except maybe her, in a bank account-type way (which she admits to wholeheartedly). Men’s jack off material is not revolutionary. (The non-censored version is being shared out there by dudes on Twitter, too, for the record, among the many other nude photos of Kim that she and Kanye put online, fairly routinely. I’m not gonna link to it though, nope.)

4) Kim K is literally defending the millions of dollars she is making as we speak for, again, doing nothing significant whatsoever. Ok, that’s not entirely true… The video game she references in her tweet is called “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.” In the game, the player’s goal is to “increase their fame and reputation, starting on the E-list and rising to the A-list.” So I guess the significant thing she is doing is contributing to the notion that the most important thing one can be in life is “famous.” Which is, really, kind of her signature thing and has also shaped our culture in a pretty notable, albeit horrible, way.

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

5) I’d like to take this opportunity to answer Kim’s very serious question about “why people get so bothered by what other people choose to do with their lives”: It’s because your entire raison d’être is making other people care about every single thing you have ever chosen to do in your life, Kim. Like, literally. You were made famous through a reality show* which was created in order to make you famous. By engaging the entire world in all of the things you choose to do with your life.

Now, this doesn’t mean I think Kim deserves to be shit on or what some like to call “slut-shamed,” it just means that trying to make this conversation about “liberation” or “body-shaming” and then propping Kim up as some brave feminist icon is, IMHO, incredibly stupid.

6) In conclusion, this:

*Full disclosure, I enjoy watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I like Kourtenay’s lipstick, I think Khloe is funny, and I also think they are actually a kind of nice family, in that they seem to care a great deal for one another. I also watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I am not proud of this and do not endorse reality TV watching as an Official Feminist Pastime.

Meghan Murphy

Founder & Editor

Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist from Vancouver, BC. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including The Spectator, UnHerd, Quillette, the CBC, New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and is now exiled in Mexico with her very photogenic dog.