Is Kim Kardashian a feminist icon? If the question may make some people snicker, the question could not be more serious. It is even at the heart of a documentary put online this Wednesday on Arte.tv : Kim Kardashian Theory. Co-directed by journalist and sociologist Guillaume Erner and journalist Nesrine Slaoui, this investigation looks at the Kim K phenomenon and his global influence, from the affair of his sex tape to his commitment to changing the American prison system.
“Kim Kardashian is a woman of many talents. But although numerous, they are not recognized as “standard” talents. She’s extremely good at being herself, but in a way that’s made for the cameras,” says Meredith Jones, professor of gender studies at Brunel University in London. A true “Kimologist”, as knowledgeable as anyone on Kim K, the specialist is among the numerous testimonies of researchers in this particularly detailed and well-supported documentary.
A nod to the great classic King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes, Kim Kardashian Theory also questions the feminist scope of this pop culture icon. Financial empire, matriarchy, redefinition of beauty standards… How this businesswoman, reality TV star and selfie queen, moved the lines with the general public.
Matriarchy and intimate issues
Keeping Up with the Kardashians safe !, The Kardiashans since 2022 on Disney+… It’s been more than fifteen years since the most famous family in the United States has exposed their daily life in their own TV show. Yet another reality TV program punctuated by hysterics and hair pulling? Not only. On the surface, these episodes also show an unusual world where women blow hot and cold and are in control of their destiny.
“It’s a matriarchy,” assures Kimologist Meredith Jones in the documentary. In this show, men are puppets. It’s the women who are powerful and who interact in interesting ways. » Kim K, her mother Kris and her sisters Kylie and Kendall, are all successful models in their own right, in the field of fashion, cosmetics or influence (see all three at once).
Watched by millions of viewers across the Atlantic, the Kardashian family also publicly addresses the intimate domain and participates in its own way in freeing speech around taboo subjects. Like Khloé who spoke frankly about her infertility problems or Kourtney who revealed the underside of her in vitro fertilization.
The Kim K empire
“Why is Kim Kardashian one of the most followed women in the world when she does nothing? », asks the documentary, with a touch of provocation. But this businesswoman, former assistant to Paris Hilton, is far from twiddling her thumbs. In addition to popularizing the selfie, “which has become a fundamental means of expression” (for better and for worse), Kim K “embodies a new form of celebrity dominated by influencers,” explains director Nesrine Slaoui. Influence on social networks, a new profession that Kim K herself created, pioneer of a flourishing sector that is the dream of many millennials and gen Z.
Over the years, she has been able to finely capitalize on herself and found a real financial empire: a mobile game in her image, cosmetics, a private equity company… Without forgetting her SKIMS underwear brand, a real hit which generates $500 million in annual revenue. In 2023, Forbes estimated Kim Kardashian’s fortune at $1.5 billion. A sense of business that the investor even taught at the prestigious Harvard University during an exceptional course last year.
“A new ideal of beauty”
Kim Kardashian also has a recognizable physique, worked and sculpted to perfection, a clever mix of curves and finesse. We still remember Jean-Paul Goude’s stunning photo of the young woman in 2015, her waspish waist and her plump butt. Behind a narcissism taken to the extreme and the exacerbated sexualization of her body, Kim K has also undeniably caused a redefinition of the canons of beauty.
“Kim but also her sisters, in terms of gender, really imposed a new ideal of beauty,” says professor Meredith Jones in the documentary. Their morphology has today become the reference of beauty, even the only model to follow in the world. 10-15 years ago you had to be very thin, tall and have very white skin. Today the fashion is for shapes, dark hair and smaller women. »
A fashion and beauty icon that was not built without its share of controversies, as the survey highlights Kim Kardashian Theory. Blurring the waters about her origins, the young woman has been accused of cultural appropriation on several occasions, particularly by the African-American community.
What if Kim Kardashian’s influence didn’t stop in the field of beauty? Recently, she has distinguished herself in a completely different sector, that of the American prison system, where she vehemently denounces detention conditions. Without forgetting the law studies that the businesswoman has undertaken for several years. Kim K, a great political figure in the making?