Kylie Jenner has been praised for showing off her leg scar on Instagram, reminding us all that she’s only human too.
Yep, she might be the world’s youngest billionaire and live a life of luxury and glamour we can only dream of, but every now and then we’re reminded that beneath it all Kylie is a real person, like all of us.
Kylie has one of the biggest Instagram followings in the world, with an impressive 137 million followers, and last November the New York Post named her as one of the most influential celebrities in the fashion industry, so it’s refreshing to see unphotoshopped scars in a world full of filters and unattainable beauty expectations.
Anyone who’s followed Kylie closely will know she’s never hidden her scar, yet every time it appears on our news feed, it sparks debate over how she got it and whether she’s showing it off for the right reasons.
The 21-year-old recently shared a picture of herself crouching beside the wheel of her car wheel wearing a teal one-armed Balenciaga dress with her scar on full display, prompting one follower to ask: ‘Whats that scar on her thigh? Liposuction surgery?’
While many people would probably say it’s fair game to assume Kylie acquired the scar from surgery, her loyal band of followers were quick to set the record straight.
Even those who wouldn’t necessarily call themselves ‘fans’ have jumped to the mum-of-one’s defence for her candid portrayal of her scar.
‘I’m no fan of the K’s but it’s true the scar is from an accident not surgery,’ one follower replied. ‘It’s the only real thing she puts out there to show beauty is not ‘perfection’ and can also be marred. We all have our scars/flaws.’
Kylie previously opened up about how she acquired her scar during a Q&A with Celebuzz in 2011, explaining:
When I was about five, my sister [Kendall] and I were playing hide and seek, and I hid inside this really tall, enclosed gate.
After a while, when my sister didn’t find me, I had to climb up on this sharp pole sticking out from the gate. I slipped, and the pole went into my leg. I tried pulling away to get the pole out, but it just tore through my whole leg.
Last year, the make up mogul posed on the front of GQ with boyfriend Travis Scott, proudly showing off left thigh scar, prompting fans to praise her for not editing it out.
While we can probably all agree that less photoshopping and more genuinely candid snaps are the way forward, there’s definitely a long way to go in achieving that.
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian has recently been showing off the effects of painful psoriasis flare ups. Could the Kardashian family be paving the way forward towards a more ‘real’ Instagram?
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.