Kim: Selfies can be empowering
Reality TV star was invited to speak at the Commonwealth Club of California
The big reveal from Kim Kardashian’s guest turn for San Francisco’s revered Commonwealth Club of California on Tuesday night? She was wearing maternity Spanx under her black designer dress to conceal cellulite, not her pregnant belly.
The reality TV star and fashion mogul was invited by the 112-year-old club that describes itself as the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs programme to talk about her famous family, the business of millennial culture and the objectification of women in media.
Before her visit, the Commonwealth Club’s invitation to Kardashian provoked minor controversy.
Some members and listeners of the club’s radio broadcasts said they felt she was not worthy of sharing the same spotlight as such notable past speakers as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. The programme’s Facebook page has lit up in recent days with comments opposing and supporting her selection.
Kardashian did discuss the key topics, and others, during an hour-long appearance before an adoring audience that was mostly young and female. But the mild questions she was asked, first by a retired state judge who served as interviewer and then by audience members via Twitter, elicited few deep answers.
“How do you explain your popularity?” Judge LaDoris Cordell asked Kardashian after the topic of the 34-yearold’s outfit was covered.
“I really do love social media. I credit it to a lot of my career,” Kardashian answered. “My career is based on openness, openness and honesty.”
Then it was time for the tough questions. Do the media degrade women, Cordell asked, to the status of mere sexual objects? Does the large number of selfies Kardashian posts objectify her?
“Yes. I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” she answered. “I think there’s power in that and I think I have the control to put out what I want so even if I’m objectifying myself, I feel good about it.”