Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Jenners

Image Source: The Hollywood Reporter

#KeepingUpWithTheKardashians #KUWTK #Entertainment

By: Vanessa Chen

The Kardashian and Jenner family are one of the most influential yet divisive figures in popular culture. Contemporary discourses surrounding celebrity, influencer marketing, social media, and lifestyle branding, would necessitate reference to the family. This article seeks to analyze what the Kardashian family represents and their impact within the pop culture landscape.

While there is a wealth of online articles that chronicles every move the family makes in depth, there is a substantial lack of academic literature that synthesizes the aforementioned discourses. At least until recently. Last year, my dissertation on the Kardashians, called Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Jenners: An Analysis of the Postfeminist and Neoliberal Tendencies and Biopolitics in Contemporary Social Media Practices, received an award of distinction at Trinity College, Dublin. Having spent many hours writing and researching this project, one may say I have some expertise over the topic.

In order to understand the current cultural landscape, the Kardashian and Jenner family are the best example because they are highly visible, recognizable, and successful in this space. The family has capitalized on three key trends. First, the Kardashians and Jenners has intensified the focus on constantly transforming and perfecting the female body. Second, the family have capitalized on the increase of body labor by marketing products on their reality TV show and now social media. Third, they created lifestyle brands that provides a lucrative source of revenue for them, from creating their own highly successful beauty companies (e.g., Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty) to influencer marketing to turning their lives into a never-ending stream of content.

These dominant tendencies of using content marketing, influencer marketing, and self-branding can be seen all over social media today. In particular, the constant focus on improving the female body has invigorated the demand for marketing and products within this industry. While my dissertation also considers the dominant representation race, class, gender, and identity within the current cultural landscape as well as contemporary business practices, I would love to hear your opinion in the comments below.