The Kardashians gave us a lot more than we bargained for

In the beginning there was one. She was all powerful, all seeing and ruthlessly self-promoting. She created the five, leveraged the sixth and created a world that has, collectively, garnered a staggering 700 million plus following on Instagram and millions of viewers of nineteen seasons, across the world, of real-life family drama.

Kris Jenner has undoubtedly become the goddess of popular culture, has been so for almost two decades and penetrated every aspect of our recent past and present with her princesses, Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kylie, Kendall and more recently, Kaitlyn. The Kardashians have become one of the most powerful families in the world.

While the Kardashians, their antics and persistent existential crises have been an irritant to many, there is no doubt that through the malaise of carefully crafted reality-drama and relentless self-promotion, America’s first family in entertainment has also given the world a lot, and influenced many aspects of our lives, whether we like it or not. There have been other reality shows, Paris Hilton’s The Simple Life, the Osbourne’s and the nihilism of the Housewives franchise. But nobody will remember them. We will never forget the Kardashians.

The family made a lot of things okay, changed the way many women feel about their bodies and how they engage with the world. The family made us aware of several social issues throughout the years and, more recently, helped bring the internal and family struggle of Bruce Jenner to the fore as he transitioned to Kaitlyn. The Kardashians have, through the glitter and glam of being famous for being famous, influenced the world. Sometimes for good and at other times, for reasons as flimsy as candy floss. It is a money-making machine where a single promotional Instagram post from the eldest, Kim, can set back a brand between $ 300 000 to $500 000.

The Kardashians are rolling in the dough with an estimated collective family fortune of just under $ 2 billion, Kylie Jenner the richest of them all clocking in at $ 900 million with sister Kendall, the highest paid model in the world, coming in at $ 35 million. She has the lowest net worth in the family. The entire Kardashian empire tells the story of a savvy businesswoman who built an empire, who managed careers and created unbelievable wealth and success. The family gave us an aspirational example for women all over the world and, of course, the term ‘momager’ given to puppet master Kris right from the get-go.

The sisters have also, through the years, played a major role in fashion. The popularity of the thong bathing suit and one-piece costumes; bodysuits made a comeback from the 90s thanks to the girls. The idea of athleisure, pairing tracksuit pants and a straight out of gym look with high heels is a Kardashian-bred trend. The clan also brought back Madonna’s eighties’ shock-trend of lingerie as outerwear, sometimes to the extent that it was impossible to tell whether they were wearing outer clothes at all. The sisters also condemned bras to history and, many times, underwear too as showing skin and playing with the imagination of those who behold those donning daring spread like wildfire across the globe.

On a more serious side, woven throughout the family’s colourful near-history, have been issues and conundrums that many people have been able to identify with. Armenian by descent, Kim Kardashian-West played a significant role in creating awareness of a genocide nobody really knew about. A period during the First World War where the Ottoman Empire reportedly slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians. Kardashian-West was partly responsible for the US-Congress finally recognizing the event in a bill passed in 2019. The family has also championed gun control and homelessness in the US and contributed a chunk of cash to victims of Hurricane Harvey. Kardashian-West also relentlessly agitated for sentence relief for a 29-year-old woman who shot and killed a man who allegedly purchased her and forced her into prostitution in a sex trafficking ring.

The Kardashians also made the world swallow sustained prejudice when it comes to multi-racial relationships, opened the door for surrogacy’s wider acceptance and that women really can achieve all they want, be who they want to be and boo-ha the naysayers. But the family is not just about girl-power. It is a 19-season, gazillion Instagram post lesson for us all. That we can all achieve almost anything when we set our minds to it.

---