When you think about traditional American values – love, marriage, education, family, religion – they stand for all things wholesome, aim to insure stability, and paint a picture of the American Dream. These are the values we’ve prided ourselves on and relied on to make America an idyllic place over the past century.
But, these wholesome values we’ve built our society around have, well, gone to shit.
I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m all for change, but it’s clear that we don’t hold these values to be as important as we once did. We might say we do, but we don’t. We might dream of the perfect marriage filled with love and stability, but that’s not the message we’re sending. While we want the white picket fence and fairytale ending, the divorce rate in America is 50% (and that’s just for first marriages). 67% of second marriages end in divorce and 74% of third marriages end in divorce.
Actions speak louder than words. I don’t mean to bore you with cliches, but this couldn’t be more true than with the message we send as consumers. While we bash celebrities who are often in the spotlight, we are also infatuated with them. Our obsession is apparent. The Kardashians signed on for seven more seasons of Keeping Up with the Kardashians earlier this year, so, while you say you want them to go away, their ratings say different.
As our world changes, so do we. Progress is inevitable. When President Obama was re-elected on November 6, pot was also legalized in Colorado and Washington – for recreational use. Progress people. Same-sex marriage was also legalized in Maine and Maryland. This all happened, basically mindfucking Republicans, to which Bill O’Reilly tried to make sense of the change stating, “The white establishment is now the minority, the demographics are changing. It’s not a traditional America anymore.”
The one thing O’Reilly got right with his statement was that this certainly is not a traditional America anymore. We’re changing, progressing – and believe it or not, the Kardashian Klan is the perfect example. Everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure is the perfect example of how we’re different. The one family that can be considered “American Royalty” – the one family that everyone knows about, that many put on a pedestal, is the purest non-traditional American family we have – yet we obsess over them. Why? I believe it’s because they are relatable.
For the past 5 years, the Kardashians have taken over basically everything. It started with reality TV, but quickly expanded to…everything else.
When you think about the ideals I mentioned: love, marriage, education, family, religion – you’ll see that the Kardashians have broken the idyllic boundaries, and have helped usher in a new America. Like it or not, they’ve helped us bring a lot of compassion and acceptance to things that were once frowned upon.
You may love to hate them or hate to love them, but they’ve put their personal ups-and-downs in the spotlight and I assume that’s why they’ve stayed relevant so long.
Let’s take a look back:
Infidelity, Divorce: Kris Jenner cheats on Rob Kardashian Sr., ultimately leading to their divorce.
Marriage: Kris is set up with Bruce Jenner by a friend after both are divorced. The two quickly fall in love and get married. Each have 4 kids, making a very large blended family.
White Collar Scandal: Rob Sr. causes friction in the family when he takes on his good friend, OJ Simpson, as a client when he was notoriously on trial for murdering his wife, Nicole Simpson. The Kardashian kids referred to them as Uncle OJ and Auntie Nicole.
Marriage: Kim Kardashian eloped with music producer Damon Thomas at just 19. Once Rob Sr. found out, he quickly pushed annulment.
Pre-Marital Sex: Kim Kardashian becomes “a superstar off of a home movie” when a sex tape of her and then-boyfriend Ray J gets leaked. It is thought that Kim’s ex-husband, Damon, is the one who leaked the tape.
Interracial Love: If you haven’t noticed, Kim & Khloe Kardashian mostly date black men. We love this about them, by the way.
Arrests: Khloe Kardashian is arrested for drinking and driving. We in no way promote drinking and driving, but for a mugshot, Khloe doesn’t look too bad.
Interfaith Relationship, Pre-Marital Sex: Kourtney finds love in Scott Disick, a wealthy Jewish guy from Long Island. After a long-term on-and-off again relationship, Kourtney finds herself pregnant. Mason is born in December 2009, and is now the most swagged out 3-year-old of all time.
Interracial Marriage: Khloe marries Lamar Odom after dating just 30 days. She then takes on the role of stepmom to his two kids.
Divorce: After an over-the-top wedding, Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kris Humphries on Halloween 2011, after just 72 days of marriage.
Pre-Marital Sex: Kourtney has another baby out of wedlock. Penelope Scotland Disick made Mason the cutest older brother of all time.
Pre-Marital Sex: Kim and Kanye announce they are expecting a baby in 2013 after 8 months of dating. Kim is still legally married to Kris Humphries.
Questions, comments, concerns? Hit me @RachelSamara
