Celebrities are like marmite; you either love them or you hate them.
Celebrity culture is more popular now than it has ever been before. Programmes such as I’m a Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Juice are dominating our television screens, all revolving around ‘celebrities’ (I use that term loosely for some). Our society has become obsessed with following and creating celebrities. Channel 4’s Gogglebox has created a new wave of ‘celebrity’, with Scarlett Moffatt appearing on the 2016 series of I’m a Celebrity. Ordinary members of the general public are becoming famous for watching television, perfectly highlighting the popularity of celebrity culture.
The royal family of reality entertainment and social media is unquestionably the Kardashian-Jenner clan. Starring in their own reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, they dominate all aspects of the social world, holding between them over 389 million Instagram followers, 156 million Twitter followers and 105 million Facebook likes. With their every move being documented by eager fans and intrusive paparazzi they make headlines daily. With such a high fascination with the more famous among us, what effects are these super-humans having?
What Instagram allows over all other social networking sites is the ability to easily show off the user’s lifestyle, through the upload of photos and short videos. The lifestyles that celebrities such as the Kardashians promote, are often unattainable and unrealistic. Let’s use Scott Disick as an example. He regularly uploads photos to his 18.4 million Instagram followers and, as you can see, likes to show off his luxurious lifestyle.
Is this all well and good?
Arguably, it isn’t.
Exposure to a constant stream of ‘mine’s bigger than yours’ style posts can make people feel inadequate. Student Kate Yuille, 19, says
“The lifestyles that celebrities live are completely unrealistic. They make their lives seem more perfect than they actually are, which leads to their followers have unfair expectations for their own life.”
The issue of body image is more relevant today than it ever has been, especially in teenagers. Teenage years are a time of dramatic change. Puberty results in adolescent bodies changing and developing, which can lead to embarrassment and self-consciousness, resulting in aspirations to have the perfect body. A study by the Keep It Real Campaign shockingly found that 80 percent of 10 year old American girls have been on a diet. Dr Gail Gross points out this impossibly unrealistic body image that celebrities promote
is the criteria to which teenagers measure themselves.
The Kardashians especially provide unrealistic body images with trademark tiny waists and large posteriors, as well as supporting the use of plastic surgery to enhance their own looks. In an article for the Daily Mail, Joanna Crawley writes how Khloe Kardashian has openly supported the use of plastic surgery, saying it’s
Alongside her sister, Kylie Jenner’s lips have had the most obvious transformation, with the reality star admitting to having had lip fillers.
What’s the problem then?
The main problem with this is the message it puts across to Jenner’s followers. In using and supporting plastic surgery to give them the perfect body, celebrities such as Kylie Jenner are effectively leading their fans to believe that natural beauty does not exist. The message of not seeing natural beauty as being good enough is extremely unhealthy.
So what can we take away from this? Firstly, it is important to separate ourselves from what is real and what is not. Our lives are real, the lives celebrities, such as Kylie Jenner, post on Instagram are not. To compare our own lives to the Kardashians, or any other wealthy celebrities, is extremely unfair on us. In reality, very few people have private jets and drive flash cars. Secondly, we must learn not compare our bodies to anyone else. Everyone is unique and has individual qualities. It is unhealthy to make comparisons to those with different bodies to us, especially those who have had cosmetic alterations.
Compare yourself only to the best version of you.
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