Last week, Khloe Kardashian defended her desperate attempt to scrub one authentic photo of her from the internet.
The backlash has been complicated, with fans noting that it’s not just because she’s a public figure.
With this, fans note, Khloe is making herself part of the problem that she claims to fight against.
Now, with that in mind, fans are saying that Khloe missed what could have been a phenomenal opportunity.
Everyone in the world has every right to want to control their own image.
That is part of the beauty of selfies … and why some geriatric blowhards raised hell about them about a decade ago.
Things do get a little more complicated when it comes to public figures, but the feelings are still valid.
Also, copyright holders — with specific exceptions — have a legal right to exercise some control over their art.
This includes photography.
Unless you forfeit your rights to a photo, yes, you can ask a social media user to take it down.
So this is not about people accusing Khloe of being in the wrong for being upset. Mostly, anyway.
Khloe looked great in the photo, which did make her reaction strange.
The primary issue now, over a week after the pic was accidentally posted, is the hypocrisy of it all.
“Representing Body Acceptance,” reads the Good American (Khloe’s brand) slogan.
Khloe has poured her entire brand into fighting against the pernicious body-shaming that she herself endured.
There’s just one problem with that, and it’s illuminated by her recent “scandal.”
Does Khloe really believe in body acceptance?
She transformed her look years ago, getting her famous “revenge body” and redefining her public image.
Khloe is one of the hottest women on the planet … but accepting that fact seems as hard for her as accepting her body.
It is not Khloe’s fault that she has body dysphoria.
This is something that was inflicted upon her, largely by society’s reaction to her in comparison to her sisters.
Remember, Khloe became famous at a time when “ironic” body-shaming was considered en vogue.
So when Khloe edits her face beyond recognition again and again, that’s not malice.
When she scrambles and reportedly “goes ballistic” in trying to get one natural photo of her purged from social media, there’s no bad intention.
In both cases, most fans see these as cries for help from a woman who cannot love herself without a filter.
But that is not to say that there are not problems with her actions.
There are two choices that she can make to avoid the backlash that she is receiving.
She can stop being part of the problem and she can stop being a hypocrite.
How is she part of the problem?
When a famous, beautiful woman as influential as a Kardashian over-filters herself, what kind of message does that send?
The Kardashians have the power to redefine cultural beauty standards, and that comes with real responsibility.
How is she a hypocrite?
By tying her brand to body acceptance and profiting from the idea without practicing it herself.
That is an almost textbook definition of hypocrisy.
Khloe has so many good qualities and she has an incredible body.
Her photo “leaking” is a missed opportunity for her own mental health and for her brand.
If she hadn’t made a desperate, futile attempt to erase it from the internet, no one would even be talking about it. Poor Khloe.