Kim Kardashian Blocked All Negative Media Outlets After Suffering From Body Image Issues
Being the most photographed woman in the world is a pretty pressuring title, but Kim K and her Kardashian Klan (clan, sorry) has never appeared to be too bothered by it, until now. The middle sister has laid everything bare this past year, with the family's show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians showing the after effects of a pretty traumatic 12 months. Viewers watched as Kim sobbed hysterically over her Paris ordeal - where she was robbed at gun point in her hotel room - followed by fertility problems as she and Kanye tried for a third child. But recently, in addition to her trauma and struggles, there was something else that tipped Kim over the edge.
The most recent episode to air of season 14 of KUWTK showed Kim open up about the unauthorised paparazzi shots that went viral of Kim in a bikini on a beach in Mexico, and the body-shaming that subsequently followed. When unedited images of Kim appeared in tabloids globally, where cellulite and stretch marks were clearly visible, the social media queen lost over 100,000 Instagram followers after being branded 'fake'. The overall backlash majorly impacted her self image and sent her in a spiral of body-related anxieties that even her closest friends and family couldn't help her out of.
Kim's worries over paparazzi catching 'bad' angles and further body shaming and mocking left her questioning her attendance at the 2017 Met Gala and constantly talking about poses that didn't show her with 'took much of a hip', and how she would have to face cameras differently 'to where [she] looks skinnier'. On the day of the Gala, her anxieties and insecurities are heightened, and in her confessional she says, 'Knowing that all eyes are on you when you're walking up those stairs, and within moments people can be so quick to criticise and say whatever is really intimidating.'
When family and friends address her anxiety at a meal, Kim admits that 'that Mexico trip really fucked me up', and the trauma from the 'never ending' body shaming was bringing back memories of her attack in Paris only months before. 'She was mocked and made fun of for this really traumatic thing that happened to her,' Khloé Kardashian says on the show, with reference to the general response to the robbery. 'Her having those pictures come out, everyone has another reason to kind of ridicule her and mock her. It's one of the few times she's been seen back out, and this is how she's treated. It's not fair and it's really cruel.'
Kim describes herself as having a 'full phobia' of leaving the house, adding how she gets 'freaked out' if anyone looks at her. She, much like many of us, is obsessed with tabloids and can even reel off full headlines aimed at herself in an effort to hurt and body shame her. When it came to disconnecting herself from the hurtful articles from the likes of TMZ and The Daily Mail, she said she'd rather stay indoors than have anyone take photos of her 'so fat and so wide' body. The emotional episode ends on a slightly more positive note though, when her sisters take control and block her from being able to access the 'negative' outlets and platforms that have been all-consuming for her body image and self-esteem. Blocking negative influences is a really key part of growing and moving on from ideals and anxieties that have previously worried us, so it's great to see that the Kardashian family have made sure that Kim is protecting herself in the same way.
