It has not even been an entire day since rapper Kanye West announced his bid for President of the United States and social media has been lit with sexism against his wife, reality show star and makeup mogul Kim Kardashian West.
No sooner did Sir Ye tweet about his Presidential bid, the internet was littered with sexist commentary regarding the potential First Lady, Kim Kardashian.
While West's bid for Presidency has nothing to do with his wife, internet was quick to troll Kardashian for the same. Almost as if she was responsible for the contentious announcement.
What started as jokes, however, soon turned to crass sexism and slut-shaming. Many dredged up her 2007 porn film with rapper-actor Raj Jay.
TBH... what a climb up for Kim Kardashian would that be if Yeezy became President. From sex tapes and Playboy to First Lady and the Oval Office - hey, it’s 2020, nothing surprises me anymore. #Yeezy2020 #2020— Samantha Long (@SLongNewcastle) July 5, 2020
Kim kardashian after she goes from being famous because of a sex tape to becoming the First Lady thanks to Kanye pic.twitter.com/5XHdGLWmgF— X Æ A-12 (@ItsAllens) July 5, 2020
If Kim Kardashian becomes the First lady #Kanye2020 pic.twitter.com/Vc3rgW6cgC— Eddy (@SatiricalEddy) July 5, 2020
Cheers for first lady2020 is going to be fucking amazing#KimKardashian pic.twitter.com/VoJ2e2UWkn— Vijay singh (@Vijaysi98013971) July 5, 2020
While the news of Kanye running for President might be shocking and ludicrous, the fact that more people seemed worried about Kim Kardashian as First Lady is just another example of how misogynistic a place Twitter can be.
This is not the first time that a potential First Lady has faced slut shaming on social media. Before 2016, present First Lady and Donald Trump's wife Melania Trump was heavily trolled and maligned on social media for her acting career. Even while trolling Kardashian, some could not avoid shaming Trump. "Melania would like to remind you that Kim Kardashian would be the SECOND First Lady to have done porn," a Twitter user wrote.
Melania would like to remind you that Kim Kardashian would be the SECOND First Lady to have done porn. #BeFirst— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) July 5, 2020
I know that Melania has lowered the bar for First Lady but I don’t think Kim can slither under it.— Barbara Malmet (@B52Malmet) July 5, 2020
In the past few years, Kim has been increasingly vocal about politics and has shown her support multiple times for President Donald Trump who, both she and her husband Kanye have met in the White House.
In 2019, she revealed an interview to Vogue that she was getting a degree in law, though via rather method. by joining an apprenticeship instead of going to law school. In an April 2019 article for Forbes, author and brand strategist wrote that by doing so, Kardashian now had the opportunity inspire thousands of women who followed her for selfies on her social media accounts to aspire for careers in law and other fields like governance, policy and administration. It sent the message that even girls who liked makeup could aspire to be taken seriously.
The trolling of Kardashian after Kanye decided to run for President is just another example of sexism that women iround the world face, no matter what they do. And also ironic considering the current President of the United States has routinely made sexist remarks and has multiple albeit botched accusations of sexual harassment against him.
Yes, a world with Kanye West as the POTUS would probably be scary. But a world that is more forgiving of Kanye (or Donald Trump for that matter) as President than accept Kardashian as the First Lady is probably not that much better either.
