Listen up, business-minded women. It turns out Kim Kardashian has decided to let us in on the secret of her $1.8 billion net worth success.
In an interview with Variety, Kardashian flippantly doles out advice we didn’t ask for, nor can actually use.
Related: Are Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian a publicity stunt?
In the article aptly titled, “‘Money Always Matters’: The Kardashians Tell All About Their New Reality TV Reign,” the star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and the upcoming The Kardashian shared, “I have the best advice for women in business,” she said, adding, “Get your f**ing a** up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.”
So that’s it ladies! All you have to do is simply work harder and the American Dream is yours – white picket fence, rich parents and all.
Understandably, Kardashian’s callous Marie Antoinette-esque comments were not well-received and the internet had words, detonating a meme firestorm.
Many users were understandably miffed that the shadow side of her comments imply women the world over are already not doing this.
Related: Pandemic has a negative impact on women in the workplace.
the question of whether Kim works hard is irrelevant. jobs often require hard work to do them well, whatever they may be! it’s the assumption that women in business seeking advice aren’t doing that lol (which was what the question was)
— Bolu Babalola (@BeeBabs) March 10, 2022
Other users noted that the timing of the article’s release is similarly in poor taste, given it followed International Women’s Day on March 8 – a day meant to celebrate and uplift women.
Kim Kardashian telling women in business to get their asses up and work the day after International Womens Day has to be the biggest joke of the year
— Annanikpe (@princess_nikpe) March 9, 2022
Dubbed insensitive and hypocritical at best, the message is also inherently damaging to many who continue to struggle in today’s economy (not to mention pandemic), despite all their best efforts.
Her advice is not only out of touch with this reality of many already hard-working women today, it is also entirely unoriginal.
See also: Gender Gap Alert: High-performing women and underperforming men share same chances for leadership.
The idea that we all have equal opportunity and that “self-made” success is within our reach if we only apply ourselves and work hard enough is a well-worn neo-liberal ideology that minimizes the impact being born rich has on a person’s future chances of success (and by contrast, the way poverty poses systemic barriers – all the talent, skill and hard work aside).
While Kardashian simultaneously takes offence to the idea that she is simply famous for being famous, and while hard work is undoubtedly part of her success trajectory, it is also not the only story.
See also: Women are carrying Canadian households through the pandemic.
Kardashian built her empire on the cushy and secure foundation of generational wealth her family already owned (for an excellent quick breakdown of how intergenerational wealth improves chances of success, see this comic here).
One Twitter user was quick to note this in her tweet, dubbing her patronizing advice as “richsplaining” (a play on mansplaining):
Richsplaining: When a person who
hasn’t experienced poverty gives
you patronizing advice on how to
get out of poverty. 🙄— Michelle Amor (@MichelleAmor) March 9, 2022
Others also pointed to job listings for unpaid internships that appears to be run by the Kardashian-Jenner family, calling out Kardashian’s hypocrisy.
“No toxic work environments” pic.twitter.com/cIOxcoyPgc
— 🌸 amanda walujono 🌸 (@misamandary) March 9, 2022
While this isn’t the first time Kardashian faced criticism, we hope that in the future the celebrity will take a cue from the most recent incident and metre out comments based on her privilege-tinged anecdotal observations more carefully.
See also: What is the origin of the ‘spinster’? How society villainized the single woman.
