Keeping Up: Pop culture individualism loves Kim K

Don Allen, Columnist

Since the beginning of time, every society has had one dominant female sex symbol with ample nacelles—if you’ll pardon the engineering vernacular—that men and women alike wanted to get their hands on. If you can overlook the unoccupied materialism, Kim Kardashian the sex symbol and businesswoman has been delivered and unwrapped for society, making her the undeniable queen of today’s almost politically correct description of American Pop Culture. Kim Kardashian is one of those celebrities who gained fame by doing almost nothing at all—but she has very powerful business acumen—in most cases it rivals many male Fortune 100 CEO’s.

For the few of you who have been living under a rock and not had the pleasure, Kim Kardashian is a 31-year-old U.S. reality TV star and sex symbol riding the wave of international fame on television, newspapers, magazines and business ventures. Her reality TV show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which shows the drama-filled adventures of her siblings and other family members, keeps the global cable television viewership, or worship-ship, glued to the screen.

Kardashian gained fame when a sex tape was released back in 2003. Many watched in awe as she engaged in sexual acts with her then partner and faded hip-hop star Ray J in an X-rated porn movie with views in the tens of millions. According to the Huffington Post, when the tape was leaked, her mother Kris Jenner went to argue on her behalf. Jenner scored Kim a nice royalty deal for every copy sold. Kim also walked away with a $5 million settlement.

Kardashian is also the leader of a new clique of young people, mostly females age 16-25 who are part of American wanna-be economics. Looking at this group, her typical fan is a younger girl-or boy who loves fashion, loves to be a girly girl, loves beauty, glam, and whom she (Kim) admittedly respects as a backwards projection of herself. Kardashian told the Huffington Post, “I am not your stick-skinny typical model;” that she doesn’t go out on benders; that she tries not to swear too much, saying, “I remember this one time when I used the F-word–and everyone was like, I can’t believe you said that! You never say that! I am really cautious about what I say and do. If I look at the message I’m portraying, I think it definitely is be who you are, but be your best you.”

Kardashian’s other followers consist largely of young, upper middle-class people with very little income constraints who will spend large amounts of money to maintain their own comfort and to wear what Kim wears, to date the type of men she and her sisters date, and to somehow live a lifestyle that is far beyond a non-rich person’s means. This segment of the population has put Kardashian on the map as not only one of the most famous sex symbols in history, but also the most sought-after Internet marketing brand in the history of advertising. All she has to do is mention how wonderful or terrible something could be on any one of her many social media accounts and it either sells out, or it is forgotten.

Of course most of us have seen her photos—clothed and otherwise. From the many covers of high-fashion mainstream magazines to her latest adventure for Paper Magazine, where Paper, in collaboration with Kardashian’s naked rear-end, attempted to “break the Internet.” She is a marketing brand unto herself a la Donald Trump.  Meanwhile, several other actresses attempted to copy Kardashian in breaking the Internet, but the only person who came close was adult video star Kendra Lust, who garnered over 28,000 hits for her steamy parody on YouTube and tripled the hits when Lust went all-the-way on an adult version parody of Paper.

Today, she is known as a reality star. She is happily married to hip-hop star and Grammy Awards show antagonist Kanye West—they have a daughter named North. To bring it home, and to see the manipulation of not only pop culture, but also today’s technology—the Word.doc program I am using to write this piece recognizes her last name and corrects any misspelling in a blink of an eye. That’s power in far reaching places.

Kim Kardashian has over 28 million Twitter followers; 23.6 million Facebook fans, and 9.7 million Instagram followers. She only follows 134 Twitter accounts—mostly friends, businesses and family members—her large following has solidified her status as “the go-to girl” and broadened her reach globally.

In June 2014, Forbes Top 100 list of celebrities and their worth put Kim Kardashian at #8—worth a little more than $28 million dollars.

Kardashian is in good company. From Betty Boop to Marilyn Monroe, Kim Kardashian has made it to the inner-circle of women who are global sex symbols – born right here in the USA. With Kardashian’s business savvy, she might end up as the richest female American sex symbol in history. If Kim Kardashian can do this with little to no artistic talent, just think of the unlimited possibilities for us common folk.