Vanessa de Largie | The Daily Telegraph | October 11, 2016
I’m a feminist.
I pen articles and books advocating to stop violence against women.
Yet, I have a confession to make. When I heard the news that Kim Kardashian West had been gagged and robbed at gunpoint in her private Paris apartment last week, my first thought was: Why couldn’t they have killed her?
Even I was shocked that such a terrible thought about the life of another person existed in my subconscious. But it did.
Admittedly, I’ve never liked Kardashian West. Any human being who has the time and inclination to take 1200 selfies a day, is lost on me. I have zero interest in anything without a soul. Women that inspire me are women who contribute to society. Women that inspire me are women who send positive messages to young girls.
There were those who rushed to defend and empathise with Kardashian West — the wife, the mother, and the daughter. But where was the empathy for young girls who are made to feel inadequate because of the Kardashian tribe? And where was the empathy for young girls who have consulted with a plastic surgeon in order to conceive the nose, bosom or butt Kimmy insists are real?
A national survey conducted by Mission Australia of 50,000 young people aged 11-24 revealed that “body image” was their No.1 concern. Is it any wonder when there is an abundance of literature online teaching girls how they can look like Kardashian West? There’s even a Wikipedia page which shows girls how they can transform into her in 14 easy steps.
A video she uploaded last week showing her makeup routine has been viewed nearly one million times.
Actor Kate Winslet famously said: “When I grew up, I never heard positive reinforcement about body image from any female in my life. I only heard negatives. That’s very damaging because then you’re programmed as a young woman to immediately scrutinise yourself and how you look. I stand in front of the mirror and say to my daughter Mia, ‘We are so lucky we have a shape. We’re so lucky we’re curvy. We’re so lucky that we’ve got good bums.’ And she’ll say, ‘Mummy, I know, thank God.’ It’s paying off.”
Like Winslet, I couldn’t give a rat’s testicle about a woman’s image or age. The only thing I care about is whether a woman is REAL. I can’t connect to cookie-cutter celebrities, Botox, and reality TV. They make me want to chunder. Give me real people. Give me people who can move their faces. Give me people that have views and opinions.
Recently, New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser wrote: “Kim Kardashian West has risen from being the co-star of a sex tape to one of the world’s leading post-feminist icons.”
Umm, no. Definitely not. Feminist-Icon-Land only reserves places for women like Camille Paglia, Germaine Greer, and Gloria Steinem. Oiling up your butt-implants for a glossy doesn’t get you a guernsey. Sorry, Kim!
Let’s be real. Kardashian West is vapid, vacuous and narcissistic. As a society, we should be disturbed that people like her actually have influence over our young. Who cares if she was on the front of Forbes Magazine? Who cares if she is married to a hip-hop artist who thinks he can be the next American President? These people are like the real-life version of the movie Idiocracy. Never seen the film? Let me enlighten you.
“The film tells the story of two people who take part in a top-secret military hibernation experiment, only to awaken 500 years later in a dystopian society where advertising, commercialism, and cultural anti-intellectualism have run rampant, and is devoid of intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, and coherent notions of justice and human rights.”
In the film, a rapper does become president and the breeders keep breeding until all that exists is a world full of people like Kardashian West.
Kim Kardashian West has 48.3 million followers on Twitter and the late Nelson Mandela has 1.35 million. Welcome to the state of the world in 2016, ladies and gentleman.
I was not surprised when I went on social media and read thousands of comments echoing my initial thoughts of the robbery. The masses wanted her blown away. When you offer so little to the world, is it any wonder that people react viciously to you when something tragic occurs?
It must’ve been absolutely terrifying what Kardashian West endured. Having to plead for your life. Thinking you may never see your children again.
They say tragic events build character in people. I’m holding out hope for Kim.
But while Kardashian West had $14 million of diamonds and her sense of safety stolen that night, what about all the girls who have been robbed of their innocence and sense of self in their quest to emulate their idol?
The human race, specifically women, would be better off without that.