The world is not black and white; it is a rainbow of colors, nuanced in every way possible. Though we like to categorize and file things into neat accessible boxes, humans especially cannot be packaged that way. It's true for all of us, whether we are rich or poor, privileged or not.
Khloé Kardashian nailed that point in her recent response to her crusade on removing an unfiltered photo from the internet.
"I love a good filter, good lighting, and an edit here and there," she wrote. "My body, my image, and how I choose to look and what I want to share is my choice. It's not for anyone to judge or decide what's acceptable or not anymore."
Khloé also rawly expressed her struggles with body dysmorphia at the hands of constant public pressure, and for those struggles, I am truly sorry.
But that doesn't mean she's in the clear.
While of course Khloé isn't impervious to ridicule, she (and her family) are the arbiters of the impossible beauty standards she's complaining of being held to.
Not only is the heavily edited photo trend one she and her sisters virally circulated, but she has directly profited off the insecurities of other women.
Her series Revenge Body, which I can only assume she made money from, was literally steeped in self-hatred and the exploitation of modern beauty standards. Her consistent "I get it but I did it and you should be able to, too" messaging to contestants on her show is at best woefully ignorant and at worst highly delusional.
Aside from her harmful rhetoric, where she has repeatedly recalled the tale of being labeled "the fat one" (essentially linking fatness to unattractiveness), Khloé has essentially played both sides of the body-shaming fence her entire career.
Some of the most insidious parts of her apparently oblivious reaction is she is either unaware, or doesn't care that she is burdening other women with these emotional issues.
"The Kardashian’s and Jenner’s are never open about the cosmetic surgeries they’ve had nor are they even that open about how much they edit their images," wrote writer, librarian, and admin behind popular feminist Instagram account @theguerillafeminist Lachrista Greco on her Instagram captions. "This is a problem. When you’re someone that influential, and you let people assume you got your body just by working out and eating right, that’s lying."
It's also important to note that many of the Kardashian sisters promoted "tummy teas" and other weight-loss products that they were undoubtedly asked to sponsor — another way to profit off of other's insecurities.
And while everybody has a right to body autonomy, they have to recognize their roles in society.
"If they would prefer not to be forthcoming about the work they’ve had done, then they should at least stop selling tummy teas and weight loss lollipops and saying that’s what they’ve used to get the body they have," Greco tells CafeMom. "Most adults would probably see through this, but young people might not, which is dangerous. Celebs talking openly about their own cosmetic surgeries would be an interesting conversation piece. I don’t believe cosmetic surgery is bad; I just want celebs to be open about it."
All that says to me is that she is willing to dish it out, but not take it.
In no way am I advocating for anyone to critique or comment on Khloé Kardashian's body. Universally I believe that's wrong. But I do think that she is being hypocritical when it comes to offering her own bully sessions as a false olive branch.
Khloé is absolutely entitled to her feelings.
But that doesn't make her an ally to the everyday woman. It is possible to have empathy for a fellow woman while still holding her accountable, as Greco noted. We have to if we are ever going to make a more tolerable and accessible world for our kids.
Showing them real skin, unaltered bodies, and lifting the filter off of life gives them a better shot at self confidence and reality. Of course that isn't to say that you have to upload every "unflattering" photo to social media, nor does it give anyone the right to criticize altered bodies.
It doesn't mean you have to support someone who is trying to play both sides of the aisle. The world is not black and white, it is a rainbow of nuance, and it is especially important to look at cultural influencers in that light.
