Kim Kardashian, or more famously Kim K, is

body, which is cause for concern. Because

one of the most famous people in the world.

she's so famous, young people are looking up

But why? Her beautiful singing voice? No.

to her, thinking that she's the end all be all

Her fantastic acting career? No we all saw

"almighty woman" with her crazy curves and

that movie she did (UGH). It seems like Kim

perfect hair. She's been married three times

K is famous for no reason, and her butt is

and she's still under 35 years old. If she is the

probably

kind of person we look up to, is there any

the

most

famous

part.

Ms.

Kardashian is quite literally famous for her

hope?
Kardashian recently did a
shoot for Paper Magazine,
which quickly became a
whole new string of memes
on

the

Internet.

The

magazine uses the tag line

Break the Internet and
Kim Ks butt did just that.
As a woman, I feel very
insecure and uncomfortable
about my own body when I
see other women who are
what other people and the
media claim are ideal.
My personal favorite meme
features Kardashian's butt

Hannah Cohen
Cohen 2
as Peter Griffin's (of Family Guy) chin, with

am constantly comparing myself to those

her head popping out of the top of Peter's.

women in the magazines who I know are

As a woman, I think that Kim Kardashian is

photoshopped, but it is still incredibly hard to

giving people a false sense of how a woman

look at.
Rachel

Belanger,

student

at

Bridgewater State University, says (as if

she was saying this to Kardashian), Im
glad you did your thing, but I wish you had
done it differently. That is, she wished
Kardashian had left her clothes on,
Belanger said. I think this is a common
feeling among a lot of women. We are
tired of being sexualized in a way that we
cannot control. There is no way to prevent
being sexualized, because there is no way
is supposed to look. This is not any one
to control it. Women are angry because they
persons fault; it is the medias. The media is
are not able to express themselves without
forcing women to have a warped perception
being ridiculed.
of the way they look, and Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian is doing nothing but
herself helps this perception. Now, I dont
perpetuating the sexualization of women,
mean to be on a high horse when I say this,
says Jonathan Bubar, Junior at Bridgewater
but I feel like the only way a woman is
State University She causes unrealistic
considered attractive by todays standard is
expectations for women. He is right,
to either be curvy and bodacious, like Kim K,
because she is most famous for her sex
or be stick thin with huge breasts. I find that I

Hannah Cohen
Cohen 3
tape, as Bubar puts it. His opinion is very

her sex tape. Now this is absolutely

popular, especially among young women.

disgusting. LA Weekly claims that: The

Sara Spangenberg, feminist and student at

folks at Pornhub, a huge adult site that's part

Bridgewater

says

of the MindGeek corporate empire, said that

Kardashian is a horrible representation of

searches for K.K.'s sex tape went through the

State

University,

roof this month after her robust

bottom,

slightly

photoshopped,

appeared on the cover of the New

York-based glossy alongside the words
break the internet Kim Kardashian.
(LA Weekly)
The traffic on the website
increased 629 percent as a result of the
cover. According to the article, Kim
Kardashian broke Pornhub, rather
than the entirety of the Internet as
promised by the cover. Kardashian
made a huge deal about the tape on her
familys show Keeping Up With the
Kardashians,

or

KUWTK.

It

is

what women are supposed to be like and a

memorable solely for Kardashians crying
horrible feminist. She says, This is not a
face, which has also become a world famous
good representation of a feminist photo.
meme.
According to LA Weekly, Kardashians
photo has caused a spike Porn Surfing for

Hannah Cohen
Cohen 4
Kardashian has not been this popular in her

goes the aura. (Fortini). Kardashian may

life. Her body is the reason. Paper Mag.

have the aura, but she does not have the

believes that Kardashian is seen as a

words to back herself up.

feminist-entrepreneur-pop-culture-icon.

Joe Zee of Yahoo!Style says that a

(Fortini). This is a very unpopular opinion,

naked cover always gets people talking. He

particularly among women. According to

defends Kardashians decision to shoot a

Amanda Fortini, the writer of No Filter: An

naked cover. (Zee). While it is a conversation

Afternoon with Kim Kardashian says that

starter,

Kardashian comes with a built- in filter of

conversation and causes people to discuss a

her own meaning that she is as others say

persons body rather than the person they are

flawless. Fortini quotes Andy Warhol in

and the things they have done for society.

the article who says, When you just see

Women are constantly viewed as objects or

somebody on the street, they can really have

something to be ogled. If it were a man he would

a aura. But then they open their mouth, there

be called a hero and he would not be ridiculed

it

starts

the

wrong

kind

of

Hannah Cohen
Cohen 5
for posing naked. The blame: social media. never pose naked again, yet she has now
Because followers on Twitter, Instagram and done it three or more times and that is not
many other outlets are constantly watching her right. It is about showing your confidence,
and everything she does, she is always in the not about making others like you because you
spotlight and always showing women that they pose naked.
are inferior to her millions of fans and followers.

During her Paper Magazine piece,

By definition, Kardashian is not doing

Kardashian tells Fortini that she is Obsessed

anything that is antifeminist. However,

with apps, and when asked which ones she

likes, Kardashian just said there are
too many. She is unable to name
one app that she likes to use?
Come on Kim. Youre on Twitter
and Instagram all the time
This is not someone that
women

should

look

up

to.

Kardashian is not a good role

model for any one, especially not
people believe that feminism is more than
young women. Kardashian was married
just social equality. Women believe that other
before: at 20 she got married in Las Vegas
women should be smart and intelligent, as
and were divorced four years later.
well as confident and beautiful. Kardashian
A woman who marries willy nilly
may have all the confidence in the world, (an
and gets divorced the same way is not
obvious statement made by the magazine
someone the media should be promoting,
cover), but she does not always say the right
rather the media should be talking about
thing. Many times she has said she would

Hannah Cohen
Cohen 6
women like the recent Nobel Prize winner

hastag, #notallmen, saying that not all men

Malala Yousafzai, who won the award for

are rapists and perverts, but #yes all women

[her] struggle against the suppression of

have experienced some sort of perversion.

children and young people and for the right

All women have experienced, in one way or

of

education.

another, a man sexualizing them. Men are

(nobelprize.org). This young woman is the

sexualized too, and I am not saying they

youngest person to ever win the prize and to

arent but it happens much more frequently to

win it at such a young age is extraordinary.

women than it does to men. My point here is

Malala is a wonderful example of feminism

simple: Kim Kardashian is only sexualizing

and someone who is for equality in the world.

herself to get attention of men, and this is not

Imam Kamil Mufti, of Community World,

what a good public figure does. A good

calls her an advocate of human rights for

public figure is someone like Malala who has

education and for women. Malalas work in

worked to get equality for women in

this field has helped so many people all

education, and in their everyday life.

all

children

to

around the world. She is currently a

Why does posing naked make you a

household name and is an inspiration to all

feminist? It doesnt. Why does being an

women, young and old.

airhead make you a feminist? It doesnt.

I think an important part of this to

What makes you a feminist is that particular

mention is the #yesallwomen trend. The trend

man or womans desire to have equal rights

was started when women became fed up with

for both men and women. Feminist women

being victimized and sexualized by others.

want to be treated like they are equal to men,

Women use the hashtag to express their

with equal rights, equal pay and equal

feelings about rape, rape culture, cat calling

treatment. A feminist isnt someone who

and much, much more. There is a follow up

poses naked for a magazine, especially one

Hannah Cohen
Cohen 7
that will promote you in a way that is

whenever

demeaning to all women.

Kardashian is doing to herself and she is only

I want to ask Kardashian: is this the

way you want your daughter to look at
herself when she gets older? Do you want her
to be a sexual object for men to look at

they

please?

This

is

what

helping the stereotype of women as sexual

objects.

Hannah Cohen
Cohen 8
Works Cited
Fortini, Amanda. "PAPERMAG: NO FILTER: An Afternoon With Kim Kardashian."PAPERMAG:
NO FILTER: An Afternoon With Kim Kardashian. Paper Magazine, 12 Nov. 2014. Web. 29
Nov. 2014. <http://www.papermag.com/2014/11/kim_kardashian.php>.
Goude, Jean- Paul. KK Cover. 2014. Paper Magazine.com, Los Angeles. PAPERMAG: NO FILTER:
An

Afternoon

With

Kim

Kardashian.

Web.

30

Nov.

2014.

<http://cdn.papermag.com/uploaded_images/kkcover2%28rgb%29watermark.jpg>.
"Malala Yousafzai - Facts". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 1 Dec 2014.
<http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2014/yousafzai-facts.html>
Mufti, Imam Kamil. "Malala Yousafzai - Muslim Girl Who Stood Up For Education."The Community
Word.

N.p.,

30

Nov.

2014.

Web.

01

Dec.

2014.

<http://thecommunityword.com/online/blog/2014/11/30/malala-yousafzai-muslim-girl-whostood-up-for-education/>.
Peter Griffin. 2014. The Best Kim Kardashian Butt Memes, Los Angeles. E! Online. Web. 29 Nov.
2014. <http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20141013/rs_500x506-141113133721break3.jpg>.
Romero, Dennis. "Kim Kardashian Didn't Break the Internet, But She Inspired Some Porn
Surfing." LA

Weekly.

N.p.,

28

Nov.

2014.

Web.

30

Nov.

2014.

<http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/11/28/kim-kardashian-didnt-break-the-internet-butshe-inspired-some-porn-surfing>.
Zee, Joe. "In Defense of Kim Kardashian and the Editors of Paper Magazine and Why This Cover
Makes

Sense." Yahoo!

Style.

Yahoo.com,

12

Nov.

2014.

Web.

30

Nov.

<https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Fstyle%2Fi-sit-down-with-mickey-boardman-theeditorial-102481711218.html>.

2014.