The Kardashians are a high-profile white American family with global influence in fashion and beauty. Their sculpted bodies have drawn a lot of attention over the years, and Kim Kardashian’s changing butt has been the center of attention. A curvier butt is more common in black women, but cosmetic procedures such as a reversible Brazilian butt lift can allow anyone to achieve a more perky or voluptuous rear, provided they have the means to do so. Like all trends, they come and go, and a bigger butt may be in fashion one season but not the next.
New research from Brunel University London investigated whether Kim Kardashian used a part of black culture to build her brand and win.
Since 2007, the Kardashians have appeared in their own reality television series and have graced numerous red carpet and ad campaigns. Kim Kardashian has been the focus of their award-winning fly-on-the-wall series and with over 360 million Instagrams she has a huge platform to promote her many businesses, brands and endorsements.
Professor Meredith Jones, Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies at Brunel University London, who conducted the study, said: “The Kardashians have a celebrity that is entrepreneurial and global and Kim uses her body to promote her brands and send messages.
“Over the years, we’ve seen the Kardashians play with racial hybridity and embrace black inclusions, such as hairstyles, fuller lips and bigger behinds. This is cultural appropriation and is sometimes referred to as “black fishing”.
Although Kim Kardashian has never admitted to having a Reversible Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL), there has been much speculation over the years, even by cosmetic surgeons. More recently, Kim’s butt has appeared smaller, and Professor Jones explains why her ever-changing butt has a purpose that goes beyond aesthetics.
Bodies and sense of belonging within a culture
Beyond the legalities and formalities of citizenship – legal status and membership in a sovereign state or country – Professor Jones believes that a person’s body and physical aesthetics are integral to their citizenship and sense of belonging.
“Citizenship resides in the body and most readily in bodies that are considered ‘neutral’ – neutral bodies fit the criteria for unquestioned citizenship in a culture and country, and in Western cultures they are usually white,” Professor Jones said.
The gender and cultural expert explains that neutral bodies have the peaceful enjoyment of citizenship and are privileged because their bodies are considered “ordinary” or “neutral” within the dominant culture in which they live.
“Those who have bodies that do not match their culture’s ideal model can be said to have ‘surplus citizenship’,” Professor Jones said. “Because they are not ‘neutral,’ they may not have a peaceful, unquestionable enjoyment of citizenship,” he explained. “Their bodies become highly visible, with ‘surplus’ embodiment leading to symbolically lower citizenship status.”
Professor Jones describes how Kim Kardashian has embodied both neutral and excess citizenship over the years, due to a specific type of cosmetic surgery… BBL.
Beauty trends and the reversible BBL
Looking at the dominant European-American beauty trends of the late 20th century, BBL may seem odd. Historically, cosmetic surgery has been used as a way to blend in and combat excess citizenship, but the big-butt fad and the BBL seem to be doing the opposite.
“Feeding on the aesthetics seen in more affluent women, bodies are only perceived as beautiful when they are white, thin and almost bottomless,” Professor Jones said.
“This makes one wonder why larger behinds are in demand, inviting excess citizenship, and why Kim seemed to have opted for a BBL on an already curvy body. Well, the answer has to do with profit,” he said.
“BBL is an important procedure that can be temporarily placed and then removed with liposuction. Kim’s whiteness and wealth gave her the privilege of being able to play with “racial mobility” to play with “surplus citizenship” from a culturally safe place.
“Kim seems to have made use of the reversibility of the BBL, and his rise and fall in popularity marks a brief period when a certain form of surplus citizenship was in vogue.”
The Obama presidency and the rise of larger pools
Professor Jones believes it is no coincidence that the popularity and decline of the BBL has somewhat paralleled the presidency of Barack Obama.
“Obama was America’s first black president, in office from 2009-2017, and during his presidency, certain Black cultural traits were ‘on trend’, including a bigger butt,” Professor Jones said.
“Kim has capitalized on this trend by bucking established white beauty ideals and embracing select black ones,” Professor Jones explained. “One could argue that she used her cultural and economic capital to play with surplus citizenship, particularly in the black sense, at a time when Blackness was fashionable, increasing her wealth and fame before rejecting it physically and disappeared back to white, and therefore came back. to a comfortable neutral citizenship’.
“The Kardashians: Citizens of Surplus”by Meredith Jones, published at Citizenship Studies.
Reported by:
Nadine Palmer, Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 267090
nadine.palmer@brunel.ac.uk
