Khloe Kardashian doesn’t miss her old face. Responding to the question posed to her by a fan on her Instagram this week, Khloe simply said “no”. The post the comment was written on was a video of the 38-year-old’s current workout routine. It features her four-year-old daughter True, along with examples and instructions of how she does her daily workout. Nothing harmful, nothing groundbreaking.
Yet, one look at the comments and Khloe’s “fans” only have one thought on their mind. “What’s happened to her face?” one person asked, while another said that they “didn’t even recognise her”. It’s not just this post. Every time the Kardashian takes to social media she is seemingly criticised for her appearance, or for her attempts to digitally alter her appearance.
Take a post she shared on Instagram three weeks ago celebrating her best friend’s 40th birthday. The post was simply a set of images of her feeling like her best self in a shimmering silver Dolce & Gabbana mini dress from the night, but the only thing the comments focused on was whether or not the images were edited. “Just show us the unedited ones,” someone wrote, while another criticised how her leg looked in the third image. Khloe later took the photo down.
When it comes to her appearance, it seems the third oldest Kardashian cannot catch a break. When the Kardashians crash landed onto our telly screens in 2007, Khloe was quick to be cruelly known as the “fat sister”, her taller and broader frame a stark contrast to her two older sister’s petite bodies. This was a label she endured for years, despite being a very average weight, before she lost a reported 40lbs and dyed her hair bombshell blonde, to finally set herself apart from her siblings.
Yet, nearly a decade on from her initial transformation and Khloe is still being relentlessly body shamed and constantly compared to her sisters. It’s easy to feel sorry for her, especially with her (let’s be real) messy personal life being the public fodder that it is - but Khloe is part of the empire that set the unrealistic body and beauty standards that we still see today.
Even a pic from the dentist's office can cause controversy.
The Kardashians introduced us to a celebrity body shape that had previously only been seen on the likes of JLo (read: lean stomachs, pert breasts, and a perfectly curved round bum with athletic legs). This was welcomed during a time when we were still recovering from the heroin chic ideal of the late 90s and early 2000s. So when Kim Kardashian’s figure became the standard in the 2010s - one her sisters so studiously followed - we took ourselves to the gym, prioritising squats to create behinds as round as hers. When the Kardashian’s preached the benefits of waist trainers to give themselves the snatched look, we thought we finally knew their secret, and when Kim said she went without carbs and sugar for weeks in an attempt to fit into that Marilyn Monroe dress, it made us think that we too could benefit from eating less carbs (reader, please ignore me because carbs are life).
Khloe is part of a family, nay brand, that feeds on women's insecurities and profits off of them. When they could no longer peddle juices or teas that promised to make people slim, they sought out other avenues where they could make money off their body shapes. Kim launched her shapewear line SKIMS, Khloe, and her new figure, launched her Good American jeans, and Kourtney ventured into wellness with Poosh. These ventures told women one thing: If you want to look like a Kardashian, you need to squeeze, fit, and look after your body like a Kardashian.
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To a Kardashian, the only way to be a somebody in this world is to be slim, fit, and perfectly made up at all times. Perhaps this is why Khloe has a habit of editing her photos, or feels the need to defend herself when asked about her “new face”. She’s simply trying to live up to the expectations laid out by her family, and by her. Like most people, Khloe’s biggest critic is herself.
So should we feel sorry for Khloe Kardashian? Sure, she’s only a woman with insecurities just like the rest of us, after all. While she absolutely should not be trolled for her looks or (lack of) editing skills, she’s also part of the problem. So until the Kardashians stop preying and profiting off of women's insecurities, I’ll save my sorrows for something (and someone) else.
