Kim Kardashian West’s derriere has caused yet another social media storm after un-airbrushed paparazzi pictures of her iconic asset were posted online.
The Internet Detectives simply could not believe their voyeuristic eyes when they saw a living woman brazenly having cellulite in a bikini, in public, no less.
Cue: Online bullying that saw Kim compared to cartoon-ish characters and criticised by the press for showing her ‘true colours’, whatever the hell that means.
In the aftermath of the awfully archaic objectification of Kim, who was snapped sunning herself on some beach during her sister’s birthday retreat, 100,000 people have stopped following Kim on Instagram.
While you might assume these hoards are just piggishly unwilling to look upon a normal female figure – cellulite and all – amid their fake and acutely curated ‘fitspo’, actually some people have a much more complex reason for unfollowing Kim.
Apparently these fickle few were unaware that everything you see on social media – and particularly Instagram – is not necessarily real.
Some followers who jumped ship expressed anger towards Kardashian for being dishonest about her true form.
Some have dubbed the professional reality TV personality fake and a liar for claiming to be flawless, while all the while – god forbid – she has cellulite.
One commentator wrote:
Kim you make me feel sick talking about your flawless body when you run to the plastic surgeon for everything. There is nothing real about you.
Another added:
And yet they want young ladies to look up to them. With such language they speak I wouldn’t allow my dog to follow them, I am UNFOLLOWING.
The keyboard warriors happily criticised Kim, all the while failing to note that the pressure on women to look a certain way drives the desire to photoshop our so-called flaws out of photographs.
Kim’s brand does owe a lot to damaging beauty perceptions, as well as her globally-renowned figure, which has been dubbed ‘perfect’ by onlookers who strive to emulate the eldest Kardashian and her sisters.
So, of course, her publicity model does open Kim and, sadly, her body up to scrutiny.
But, although Kim is a multi-millionaire who is hailed as a beauty, she is not immune to those pressures.
Perhaps if we all stopped criticising what other people do with their own bodies, pop culture characters like Kim Kardashian – whose brand relies on societal beauty perceptions – wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Meanwhile, media outlets still criticise cellulite and Kim K still has 98.7 million followers… Stop the world. I want to get off.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.