We need to talk about Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala look

Yes, Kim Kardashian’s waistline looked impossible small at this year’s Met Gala. And yes, I think absolutely the same as you: where exactly Are her organs?!

But as the discourse surrounding the star setting swirls even more unrealistic beauty standards in her incredibly tight Maison Margiela corset, I wonder if we should look past the tiny waist and open a broader conversation about current aesthetic ideals.

Celebrities have long set the standard of beauty: Marilyn Monroe was the epitome of beauty in the 1950s, with her hourglass silhouette prompting a demand for belts that cinched in the waist; in the 1960s, British fashion model Twiggy rose to fame, and her silent, androgynous figure was coveted around the world, and supermodels stormed the 1990s, with Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington representing the body of the day – tall and thin, yet athletic and curvaceous.

The meteoric rise of the Kardashians set a new standard in the 2000s. We’ve moved from wanting the ‘heroin chic’, skinny, the better look to exaggerated curves, albeit in ‘the right places’ – think big boobs, big bum but a small waist and thin arms, legs and face . This led to a dramatic increase in demand for the Brazilian butt lift (BBL) procedure, which uses liposuction to remove fat from the body (usually the stomach, leaving a smaller waist) and replant it in the hips and buttocks. injected. The incidence of the surgery, despite the long and painful healing process and the terrifying mortality rate that came with it, is said to have increased by 77.5 percent between 2015 and 2020.

Ready for the kicker? By 2022, the Kardashians had slimmed down dramatically, with many reporting that the reality TV stars had scaled back their BBLs. A slew of stars followed suit by losing massive amounts of weight, somewhat suspiciously just as the weight-loss drug Ozempic exploded onto the market and changed the landscape of diet culture.

The 2024 red carpets had a common theme: thin. We’ve probably never seen such a lack of body diversity as we’re seeing lately in the celebrity realm, and Kim certainly wasn’t the only star to show off tiny proportions at this year’s iconic Met Gala.

But where does that leave us? Here’s my two cents: Beauty standards have been around for centuries, and we’ve always pursued them for ourselves, especially as women. That’s not our fault: we are pushed by society to pursue beauty, whatever that may be at any given time (celebrities included – let’s not forget that they are also victims of their own environment). But now is definitely the time to stop looking to the celebrity of the moment to tell us what we should look like, and instead determine our choices own beauty standards?

If we don’t stand up against a system that has been burdening women since long before you and I were born, if we keep chasing what’s inside, how are we ever going to win? How can we score if the goalposts keep moving?

So while it may be important to recognize the potential impact of Kim very publicly displaying a beauty standard that is completely unattainable for the vast majority of us, I believe it is even more important to understand that we can simply – and must – see for what they are: often completely unrealistic and categorically not something we should strive for. It would be physically impossible for me to look like Kim, but even if it wasn’t, why would I spend my precious time, energy and money on it? What a random activity that would undoubtedly leave me feeling unfulfilled – not to mention that it would only be desirable until the next beauty standard comes into effect. Tiring.

It’s easier said than done (believe me, after decades of battling eating disorders and terrible body image, I know this all too well), but we urgently need – both individually and collectively – to stop focusing on how our bodies and that of other women.

Imagine a world where we all take a neutral approach to the ships that allow us to navigate the world? Where we all just looked like… ourselves. Exactly how we wanted it to look.

Because that’s true Real beauty lies. Not in a small waist or a big butt, but in diversity. The fact that we all look so incredibly different is exciting and magical, and something to be celebrated, not ‘fixed’.