Should We Be Keeping Up With The Kardashians?
Over the past 10 years, the Kardashian family has become one of the most well-known families across the world. Their fame originated from the press coverage of OJ Simpson’s trial, which Robert Kardashian was the defending lawyer. Then in 2007, a sex tape was leaked of Kim Kardashian, and the families fame skyrocketed. A year later, the first episode of Keeping Up with The KardashiansAired, and since has become one of the most well-known TV shows.
Almost everyone has an opinion about the Kardashians and most of those opinions are negative. How the family came to fame is not exactly dignified. One common issue that people have with the family is the unrealistic examples they set for women’s bodies. The Kardashians are known for their curvy yet slender figures, something that’s unattainable for most women. Although most of the family members have denied having plastic surgery, it is obvious to most that they are not being completely forthright. In 2014 the youngest Kardashian-Jenner, Kylie Jenner, had was seen with brand new lips, courtesy of lip injections. After that, the internet blew up. It seemed as though every woman had followed suit and had gotten plumped up lips. It even sparked the “Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge”, a challenge where teenagers would suck their lips into a bottle opening, and the pressure of the bottle caused their lips to swell.
Through their actions, the Kardashians have come to symbolize the worst of our culture through their vanity bordering on narcissism, their greed, and emphasis on materialism. The family is constantly seen wearing clothes and jewelry that cost about the same amount as college tuition and driving cars that most people could not afford in their wildest dreams.
Although the Kardashians have had these negative influences, they have also had some positive ones. In the 10 years of their TV show, the family has dealt with many of the same issues that many “normal” people face such as; divorce, drug addiction, anxiety, obesity, infidelity, post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as a family member coming out as transgender. Although the family goes through hardship, they ultimately come together and unite to help whichever family member is struggling. As well as this emphasis on the strength of family, the Kardashians also use their platform to address many issues in society.
In the last year, Kim Kardashian and her sisters Khloe and Kourtney, all visited a homeless shelter in downtown LA in order to inform themselves about homelessness and also bring exposure to the growing problem. Kim was quoted saying
“I want to use my platform to get other people involved. … I just hope that I can shine a light on this issue, and hopefully more people will come together, and we can figure out a solution for this. I don’t know what the answer is to get people off the streets, but I’m so willing to help in any way that I can. I just want to bring awareness to this issue. It makes me feel really sad that people are just living like this, and the problem is getting worse.”
After the episode aired, she tweeted saying that the homeless shelter had been flooded with donations from people who were touched by the episode, one person even donating 1 million dollars.
Another great thing the family has done was publicly broadcast Bruce Jenner’s transition to becoming transgender. Society has come a long way in support for the LGBTQ community, but there is still plenty of work to be done, especially when it comes to transgender individuals. The Kardashian-Jenners kept Bruce’s transition to Caitlyn very public and very authentic, which shed light on the issue and gave courage to many men and women who were and are struggling through the same thing. The show and family gave trans right a huge platform that may not have been achieved otherwise.
Although the family endorses some negative qualities such as materialism, vanity, narcissism, and greed, they also use their platform for a lot of good. They have shed light on many social issues, emphasized the importance of family, and inspired others to make a change in our culture.
Fanning, Kevin. “Revisiting Season 1 of Keeping Up With the Kardashians: Part 1.” Vulture,New York Media LLC., 18 Sept. 2014, www.vulture.com/2014/09/revisiting-keeping-up-with-the-kardashians.html.
By Harper's Bazaar Staff. “58 Of Kylie Jenner's Craziest Beauty Looks.” Harper's BAZAAR,Harper's BAZAAR, 6 Oct. 2017, www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/hair/g5857/kylie-jenner-transformation/?slide=29.
Corinthios, Aurelile. “Kim Kardashian West Says KUWTK Episode Inspired $1 Million Donation to Homeless Shelter.” PEOPLE.com, Time Inc., 10 Jan. 2018, people.com/tv/kim-kardashian-kuwtk-episode-inspired-1-million-donation-homeless-shelter/.
Pasquini, Maria. “Where Caitlyn Jenner Stands with Every Woman in the Kardashian Family.” PEOPLE.com, Time Inc., 9 Feb. 2018, people.com/tv/where-caitlyn-jenner-stands-kardashian-jenners/.
Very insightful stuff here. I do agree with what you have to say about them, everyone has their pros and cons. However, even though they do have some pros if say, we kept up with the Kardashians, do they outweigh the cons mentioned. Personally, I believe they don't. In my opinion, perhaps we should keep up with other families that are more "normal" and can be more relatable to the American general public. A truly normal family might not be possible with a celeb family though so perhaps a typical one will do. There is still entertainment value without the narcissism.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article. Although I believe that they do shed light on social issues, they are promoting more negative qualities such as materialism and greed. When they try to emphasize positive values such as family, it doesn't really make as much of an impact on society as when they promote materialism and greed. Their influence is so powerful that it has caused society, especially women to feel less confident about themselves and develop unhealthy habits.
ReplyDeleteI liked your article! Regardless of how we see the Kardashians, they are a cultural icon of our time. For better or worse, it seems like we're stuck with them. I think you did a great job of explaining that trend!
ReplyDeleteThis was well written. It is clear you went back and found evidence to back your opinion. I honestly didn't know that the Kardashian's did so much for the community. I am impressed they use their platform to help people who don't have one. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your article. I am a big fan of the Kardashians even though i make fun of them constantly too. Everyone does bad things in their lives and their lives are just out for the whole world. They make mistakes but they are entertaining and they have helped many issues.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Kardashians for entertainment and often times laughed at them and after reading this I see them as more than just famous celebrities, had no idea they played a role in helping the community. Honestly I always thought of them as arrogant and self-conceited but this article changed my view.
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