What Is It Going to Take for Kim Kardashian to Be Taken Seriously?

The fact of the matter is, the past 18 months have seen Kim using her celebrity status to speak out on a variety of issues, both on a global scale and on topics that relate to her personally... The problem here isn't with Kim, but with us. It's not that Kim hasn't been using her platform, it's that we haven't been willing to listen to her. And why is that?
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TIMOTHY A. CLARY via Getty Images

At a time when it feels like the higher up the fame ladder a celebrity gets, the more beige and inoffensive they become, Kim Kardashian remains a constantly interesting topic to bring up at parties. People's opinions of Kim can range anywhere from curiosity to frustration to blind vitriol (but never apathy, and anyone who says "who?" is lying, and is to be avoided for the rest of the party).

For a lot of Kim detractors, their qualm seems to be that she's a "pointless" celebrity. That she came from nowhere, got famous for no reason and now contributes nothing. That she has a platform, and doesn't use it.

Were any of these statements true, I'd say they were perfect reasons to dislike, or - at the very least - be critical of, Kim. To me, there's nothing more frustrating than when someone has the opportunity to do even the smallest bit of good, but ultimately chooses not to. But despite what you may have been led to believe, Kim is not one of these celebrities.

The fact of the matter is, the past 18 months have seen Kim using her celebrity status to speak out on a variety of issues, both on a global scale and on topics that relate to her personally.

For one thing, Kim has repeatedly spoken candidly about the difficulties she faced conceiving, and the ensuing problems that she's had during both of her pregnancies. We've heard her getting behind the transgender cause when Caitlyn Jenner - to whom her mother was married for more than 20 years - came out in an interview with Diane Sawyer last year.

To Rolling Stone magazine, we've seen Kim self-identifying as a feminist while discussing women's issues, and later sharing a piece on her official website about the importance of being a sexually liberated woman in 2016, when she was heavily criticised for a naked selfie she shared on her Twitter page.

Even as recently as last month, Kim called for gun law reform after the tragic shootings in Orlando, Florida, and, following the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police officers in the US just last week, she penned an open letter on her website to draw attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, in particular as the mother of two mixed-race children, and the wife of one of the most prolific black musicians of the 21st Century.

The list does not end there.

When she was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People, Kim wrote an essay for the magazine, aiming to raise awareness of the Armenian Genocide on its 100th anniversary, an issue which she says affects her personally, as her great-grandparents were from Armenia.

As she said at the time: "[My family and I] have this spotlight to bring attention to it, so why would we just sit back? Now is the time to speak out, and every little bit helps."

The problem here isn't with Kim, but with us. It's not that Kim hasn't been using her platform, it's that we haven't been willing to listen to her. And why is that?

Is it because her celebrity status largely stems from a "sex tape" that was sold - against her will, might I add - a decade ago? Because she's a woman who isn't afraid to own her sexuality, and therefore we feel she isn't also able to have a voice? Because she's a woman willing to play to her strengths in order to provide for her family, and she wasn't fortunate enough to be born able to sing?

Whatever your frustration with Kim's celebrity is, I've got some news for you; she's going nowhere. And therefore, we're left with two options. We can grumble and furrow our collective brows as the years roll on, tutting and whining every time she appears on our screens or on magazine covers.

Or, instead, we can (begrudgingly, if need be) accept that Kim Kardashian is here to say, cut her some slack and - who knows? - maybe even do her the courtesy of actually listening to her the next time she chooses to speak on an issue, rather than immediately deciding that she's not worthy of our attention before she's even uttered a word (then accusing her of wasting her platform regardless).

Otherwise, what is it possibly going to take for this woman to be taken seriously?