Another day in the world of pop culture has the world glaring, squinting and trying to understand if we heard what Kim Kardashian said correctly in her latest Variety interview.
During a video interview that her sisters Kourtney and Khloe were a part of, as well as the actual mastermind business mogul, Kris Jenner, Kim gave her advice on grind culture for women in business in a far less than tasteful way.
“I have the best advice for women in business – get your f****** ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days…” she infamously said.
“If you put in the work, you will receive results. It’s that simple,” she added later.
Famous hard worker Kim Kardashian has a message for you https://t.co/IqPf7QBlfo
— Benjamin Dixon (@BenjaminPDixon) March 11, 2022
Now, if Kim had truly built her empire from the ground up, the response she received would have likely been one of praise. However, her foundations were always silver-coated in privilege.
Another celebrity who highlighted this loudly was actor and activist Jameela Jamil, who was also born into wealth.
“I think if you grew up in Beverly Hills with super successful parents in what was simply a smaller mansion… nobody needs to hear your thoughts on success/work ethics,” she said in a tweet.
Trevor Noah also took to respond on Kim’s comment on The Daily Show.
He offered a different perspective, opting to attempt to see things from Kim’s side. He mentioned her business savvy and her other work which includes being a mother to both Kanye and the kids.
Noah indicated that Kim was almost trying to stand up for herself along the common thread that many people think Kim doesn’t work at all. He expressed that the image people have of Kim is her fault, before adding that “she works really hard to look like she’s not working hard.”
Kim had also indicated that you should surround yourself with people who want to work and that no “toxic work environments” should be part of your hustle. This comment, which potentially came with good intentions, was interpreted as ignorant.
Most people and especially women who don’t fall into the 1% of wealth by inheritance, saw the comment as humorous at best and otherwise insulting.
Of the ocean of comments from people around the world, some included insight from former Kardashian employees.
Why does it matter?
The ideology that simply working hard will put you in the same position as Kim Kardashian is toxic in my opinion, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Ashleigh Nefdt. Plenty of people around the world work gruesome hours, are underpaid for their labour and on top of that, have to work more than one of these jobs to maintain a living.
In South Africa, we need only look at one at our domestic workers to shed some light on how hard work most certainly doesn’t equal a luxurious lifestyle, and that toxic work environments are not something people choose because they don’t know better.
In 2019, Business Insider conducted a research project whereby 3 700 domestic workers were surveyed. Of these, 16 percent of the participants have been physically or emotionally abused at work. That’s just 3 700 of the 1-million (registered) domestic workers in our country. Let that figure sink in.
And, even for the middle class, hard work is not a direct translation of wealth. Things are industry-specific, connection-specific, and some people have the privilege of getting a head start thanks to their lineage. This is something many South Africans can relate to when we consider our oppressive past on the majority of our population.
People are working, but they’re also largely being exploited for what they’re worth. This is the nature of a capitalist society after all, and part of the reason The Great Resignation came about in recent times. People work hard and make lots of money – for other people.
The biggest problem with Kardashian’s statement is that it creates the perspective that if you are working hard and aren’t living a life like Kim Kardashian, you have somehow failed.
As writer Dani Di Placido put it best in his Forbes critique: “Clearly, Kardashian has no idea what life is like for the average worker out there; if she wants to continue being adored by simpering fans, it’s probably not a good idea to insult them.”
Whether this was a situation of ignorance or indifference, a marketing gimmick or the other, it has hopefully shed some light on how skewed perceptions of working culture are, especially for women.
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Picture: Variety
