This week, on top of news that actually matters (read: yesterday’s Trump press conference and the impending end of the world), Kendall Jenner has had to shut down rumours that she’s had plastic surgery because of course.
The response came after a November Instagram post by her sister Kylie made headlines (“headlines”), which Kendall deemed “upsetting.”
“All of a sudden, photos of us came out with headlines like, ‘OMG Kendall got her lips done and got full facial reconstruction — look at her cheekbones, look at her nose!'” Jenner wrote on her website. “I was like, this is crazy. I didn’t even address it at the time. Because if I address it, people are going to be like, ‘Oh, so she’s defending herself — she must be guilty.'”
“Kylie saw it all unfold and felt bad, so she went on Snapchat and took the blame,” she continued. “It’s all so exhausting. As a model, why would I have my face reconstructed? It doesn’t even make sense. It’s crazy because sometimes I feel like people just want me to lose.”
Which actually led to a bigger discussion about the way Kendall feels about our Kardashian-Jenner bashing.
“I found this Instagram page devoted to Kardashian-bashing and it has a lot of followers,” she shared. “I don’t ever take that stuff personally, but it was upsetting for me to look at because this person dedicated an entire page to just dissing the whole family and being like, ‘These people suck.’ I just felt sad for whoever’s behind it — who has the time? People forget that they’re talking about real people who have real feelings and actually live their everyday lives (for the most part) just like everyone else.”
Which is true. No one is immune to valid criticism (and no one should be), but to dissect the validity of a stranger’s face is an embarrassment to the way we spend our time. In truth, if Kendall Jenner had indeed underwent surgery, that would be none of our business. Nor would it be reasonable fodder for hate or harassment or anything other than our acceptance that she had chosen to alter the way she looks because she wanted to. AKA: to do something to her own body, which we are not in charge of and do not get a say in whatsoever. So there’s that.
Second, as we steamroll towards an increasingly terrifying future, Kardashian hate for the sake of Kardashian hate seems more and more a waste of time and energy. It’s cool if you don’t like them. That’s fine. But also: nobody cares. We’re all tired. Everybody’s just trying to survive to the end of the day, every day. If your privilege allows for enough room to create Instagram accounts condemning a reality TV family, that’s fantastic for you, but also, ugh. It is the year of our lord 2017 and the Kardashian-Jenner clan is part of the pop cultural narrative. If you don’t like it, rad! Now go do something else. There is a difference between valid criticism (like, say, Kylie Jenner wearing cornrows) and hating for the sake of it. Choose the right one.
