This post with thousands and thousands of reblogs is a great many things at once!
It is deeply misogynistic
It is homophobic
It is transphobic
It is queerphobic
And last, but not least, it is simplistically dumb
Let’s look at the first one of these celebrities, a regular punching bag on certain “progressive gossip” media: Kim Kardashian.
Now, do I like the products coming out of the “Kardashian Media Empire”? Not by a long shot. I don’t even watch that kind of reality TV. Her clothes are not to my personal style and the bits and pieces of other stuff she has branded in the past are not really up my alley. However, I simply do not get the small, acrimonious, petty hatred for this woman. They call her “dumb”, “slutty”, or “a dumb slut”. She is labeled as “shallow”, an “airhead”, “fake”, etc, etc. And yet, she makes MILLIONS out of all this. She enjoys an extremely wealthy lifestyle. Some of it unquestionably inherited from her family, but it is undeniable that she has taken it to a whole new level. This is not the result of the machinations of a “dumb” woman. This requires media savvy, knowledge of business and more importantly, the capacity to use them to your advantage. Calling her “an airhead” in this context, is simply misogyny, it is the ultimate put down of a woman who might be many things but stupid is not one of them.
I am highly critical of the role of capitalism in the production of pop culture and people’s responses to this. I am critical of the role of certain allegiances to products that are nothing more than corporate brands. However, can we blame Kim Kardashian for using this very system to her advantage? And what exactly justifies the slut shaming, the hatred, the anti-woman rhetoric? Because let’s be honest here, how is Kim Kardashian any more “fake” (or “real” for that matter), than a TV show like Castle (one that I thoroughly enjoy myself). And more importantly, how is she any less effective than such product at generating personal wealth for those involved? Still, we respond positively to the TV show, while, as a culture, we believe it is our right to use slurs against this woman.
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