In a period of history that’s enslaved to social media and its different components, we have now created “Influencers” that are like a guide to the everyday person about how their lives should look. The Kardashians are a prime example of an unattainable lifestyle: the big houses, the millions made off of saying and doing the most mundane things, and their unachievable bodies that they market as “easy to obtain” with their fake workouts and harsh diets that have no substance to the human body standing on its own. It is difficult to differentiate what’s real and fake on social media in some scenarios, and because of this we have now found that these people have created an unrealistic reality where anyone who doesn’t look like them isn’t as beautiful as they should be according to society’s standard of beauty. But this isn’t an entire smear campaign on the idea behind what money can do for a family in the spotlight, this is about the abuse of said money from a group of people that have no regard for the lies they spew that create irreparable damage to the psyche of young women in today’s world. 

Now this was all introduced to the public from a particular incident in recent time created by the head daughter of the family, Kimberly Kardashian. Around 2014, after the birth of her daughter North West, Kim went to social media to shut down the rumors of her having plastic surgery to appear more curvier, simply stating that her body was the result of “just having delivered a baby”. She also claimed that the comparison pictures people were using were simply from before her pregnancy and that her body was still adjusting postpartum. Despite the rebuttal, accusations did not slow, as over time her body went from a typical, healthy body to that of an hourglass figure that most definitely was not created naturally. Because of the constant berating from the internet, Kim admitted in 2016 that her new body was the result of a surgery here and there to create the figure of her dreams. With this, along with several other surgery accusations and admissions, Kim created quite the reputation of being willing to lie and call her body “natural” in order to avoid taking ownership of her body altering procedures- a path that her sisters would soon follow in on, preaching plastic surgery to be “authentic.”

So with this, what harm was created in the process? To start, not many people are aware that the Kardashians had these surgeries. Apart from the occasional Us Weekly news articles, it wasn’t like ABC News and CNN were finding their surgery incredibly eager to be reported on. However, it is because this history of surgery was not talked about enough that we find ourselves in a mess of deciphering what’s real/fake on social media for not just the Kardashians, but for hundreds of other models that have the same work done and lie about it. 

When models and celebrities lie about their bodies being genuine, it creates a false beauty standard. Because these models are so beautiful and have impossible bodies (literally), women and girls begin to compare themselves to the beauty standard of having an hourglass body and having perfect skin and hair and thinking that they aren’t pretty enough if they don’t look like them. This creates the mindset of, “If their body is all natural and achieved by workouts and eating clean, then I can do the same thing and look just like them!” But in reality, this is simply not possible. Genetics have everything to do with having clear skin, an actual hourglass body (due to having a genetically smaller ribcage and wider hips), and long, thick hair. By claiming everything is naturally achieved when it is not possible to change certain features of your body without cosmetic surgery, it becomes misleading to not own up to getting work done. 

By not owning up to having an altered body from surgery, Kim Kardashian and the rest of the Instagram models of the world have now caused young women to look at their bodies and overwork themselves to exhaustion with difficult workouts and anorexic-encouraging diets thinking it will give them an “hourglass body like Kim!” What’s most sickening of all of this is that most models, and even some of the Kardashians, like the oldest, Khloe, refuse to admit to this day that they have had procedures done to change their looks. 

After everything is said and done, the Kardashians are still praised today for their glamorous bodies and style that sets them aside from the rest of society. While some of us can see through their hoax of a lifestyle, the reality is that a lot of young girls and women haven’t been able to recognize this yet. The only way that people can really see the truth about this ridiculous family is through as much media coverage on the topic as possible. In recent times, the family once again was accused and proven of having their surgery reversed to be as skinny as possible. Why would they have done this? Because nowadays, everyone can afford to have the same surgery that they have had from years ago. Once their bodies are no longer next to impossible to achieve with surgery, they went back to what is tried and true in a beauty standard: “being as thin as possible”. And once again, the cycle of fraud identities and bodies among influencers and celebrities continues. It’s one thing to admit that your body was modified, because it would still be beautiful, but it’s another to deny any claims of body altercation by stating that it was simply done with a good workout. The lies are creating horrible self images among women that will continue to get worse over time with social media evolving and new surgeries becoming available. On social media, the appearances of celebrities like the Kardashians are praised and envied. In reality, there is nothing glamorous about a fraud body.