Image by Gareth Elliott Illustration
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In addition, and most importantly, Kardashian built an empire off her own exploitation. The sex tape with Ray J that launched a thousand reality shows, fragrances, fashion don’ts, and online comment threads was the best thing that ever happened to her, but it was also the worst; it robbed her of her ability to be anyone else. At a time when most twentysomethings are figuring themselves out and trying to decide who they want to be, the narrative was already written for her; in a society that still offers women only two options—the Madonna, or the whore—Kardashian was assigned whore status. Instead of quietly accepting it or working overtime to "repair" her image, though, Kardashian went rogue. She fucking ran with it. If society was going to paint her as a dumb bimbo with nothing to offer but a rich dad and a big ass, she was going to take that ass straight to the bank—and that’s exactly what she did. In her own way, she raised a middle finger at the establishment, and in true SLC Punk fashion, she didn’t sell out; she bought in. She also doesn’t give a shit about what you think of her. “When there's so many haters and negative things, I really don't care.”Kardashian is smarter than most of us give her credit for; only her actual friends and family know how much of an act that ditzy demeanor is, but even if she’s not quite book smart, she comes armed with street smarts (a punk value if there ever was one). As she’s noted, “There's more pressure to be famous for being yourself than if you're being a character,” and she’s managed to turn herself into a brand rivaled only by actual product brands for market dominance. Punk is fundamentally anti-capitalist, and Kardashian is a gleaming example of rabid capitalism; at a time when traditional conservative views and the 1 percent are more distrusted (and hated) than ever, one could argue that her very embrace of this poisonous system is punk in its subversion. After all, punk is also about pissing people off, and Kardashian is very, very good at doing that.“You make mistakes, but I don't have any regrets. I'm the kind of person who takes responsibility for it and deals with it. I learn from everything I do. I work very hard, I have so many things going on in my life. Get to know me and see who I am.”You can't take any of this seriously, so fuck it. Whether you love her, hate her, or think that her entire family should be jettisoned into the eye of the sun, there's no denying the simple truth: Kim Kardashian is punk as fuck.Kim Kelly is on Twitter; please do not go wild in her mentions, because this was fun to write and we all die eventually.