A Name, A Body, A Brand: How Celebrities Influence Today's Youth

By Mabel K. ‘23

Kim Kardashian. This name conjures multiple images, such as her body, her fame, her brand. She recently attended the 2021 Met Gala, an anticipated event renowned for its innovative fashion. Every year, the Met Gala has a set theme for its attendees. This year, the Met Gala chose the theme, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, an exploration of the nation’s sartorial identity and a deep dive into American ingenuity." Kim Kardashian arrived dressed in an all black, skin tight dress with a train of black fabric following behind her. She displayed no facial features, only recognizable by her silhouette. Although fully covered head to toe, the media and public immediately recognized her. Arriving at the venue dressed in accordance with the theme, Kim Kardashian affirmed that her body is a symbol in American culture. 

Kim, her sisters, and the rest of the Kardashian family have created multiple enterprises, becoming icons in American society. This family has set major trends for decades, enticing customers to buy products on a variety of platforms. Contributing factors of celebrity influenced trend-setting include the enhancement of social media and societal pressures conveyed through media platforms. Many companies hire celebrities such as the Kardashian family to be the face of their ads to strategically lure the public into purchasing their commodities. The American media objectifies celebrities, especially women such as Kim, by using their bodies as a selling point. This solidifies the idea that women are only seen for their physical traits. As young girls develop in an environment with constant technological reminders of unrealistic body expectations, this becomes a growing issue. 

As impressionable kids turn into experimental teenagers, they start to develop idols, or people they try to emulate. Many celebrities capitalize off of their impressionable audience, using false advertising to set an ideal body standard that they themselves may have achieved through other means, such as cosmetic surgery. For example, Kim Kardashian’s makeup line, KKW Beauty, recently released their first product: a contour and highlight kit. With the aid of social media marketing the product was highly desirable or even necessary, generating over $14 million in sales. The American beauty industry flourishes by using people’s insecurities to convince them to purchase the “right” products to “correct” their insecurities. This leads to the question: To what lengths are we as society willing to go for the idea of perfection?