COMMENT the relentless bullying of Kylie should make us ashamed
Another day; another set of snaps of a certain teenage reality TV personality and social media star.
This time, she’s on a beach in Mexico looking perfectly happy with her boyfriend of a couple years, rapper Tyga.
Kylie Jenner: whether we like it or not – and plenty of people don’t – the world knows her name.
Don’t forget, she’s still just 19: an age when most of were grappling with our first real forays into makeup, romance, college courses, and part-time jobs.
But far from battling spots and teenage insecurity, Kylie is every-imaginable-angle picture-perfect. Considering her stream of flawless photos and videos garner millions of reactions on Snapchat and Instagram, it is little wonder that she has to be.
And yet there is a particularly loathsome, venomous response whenever Ms Jenner crops up on celebrity-heavy websites.
“Frankenstein's monster, a fear-inducing but empty shell built by mad scientists for money,” sneered one observer this week upon reading the detail of Kylie and Tyga’s romantic beach getaway.
“Long live the new self absorbed plastic, sex object Queen,” wrote another – referring to the self-imposed social media demise of Kylie’s elder half-sister, Kim Kardashian.
A third comment read as such: “She's so nasty, pretty sure I got herpes just looking at these.”
Ouch.
The comments went on: “I just threw up in my mouth a little. Please make it stop.” And on: “So sick of seeing this deformed teenager half naked.” AND ON: “Per usual, she's disgusting…”
Tyga – a 27-year-old with a four-year-old son from a previous relationship with Blac Chyna – hardly came out unscathed himself.
Many noted his ‘scrawny’ appearance and bemoaned his fondness for the tattoos which generously cover his skin.
Still, there is no doubt that Ms Jenner – a member of the pop culture Kardashian-Jenner mega-dynasty – receives the brunt of the hatred.
Let's remember that this is a young woman who from the age of ten was put in front of millions via Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
A young woman who says she felt compelled to alter her lips when a boy in school commented on how ‘thin’ her natural ones were.
A young woman who has, in fact, admitted to being brutally bullied for years.
“Since the show started, there’s been so much bullying towards me,” Kylie told INTERVIEW magazine a year ago. “Every single day I see something negative about me.
“It’s just completely torn me apart.”
During a similar 2016 interview with Wonderland, Ms Jenner furthermore admitted: “Growing up, I’ve heard the worst things anyone could ever say about me and bullying was such a big part of my life, with the whole entire world judging me.”
And yet that bullying continues still.
People, it seems, don’t like that Kylie Jenner has had surgery; it appears that (although this is not confirmed) she has enhanced her breasts and her bum.
“Too young; too vain; too grotesque,” cries the online mob, with no acknowledgement that Ms Jenner – before all those changes in appearance – was happily referred to as KUWTK's ‘ugly sister’.
Look, there’s no attempt to pontificate from any high horse here: we all know how the keyboard can lead otherwise fairly reasonable folk to say and do things they never would in ‘real-life’.
But the criticism en masse of Kylie Jenner is vile.
It has evolved into a shamefully sustained, full-blown, and personal attack – and one that few of Kylie's fellow celebrities endure.
So let’s instead give this incredible teen a hearty pat on the back: in the spotlight for half of her childhood, she has emerged out on the other side. Not on drugs or half-sloshed and ranting at the maid by noon – but building her multi-million dollar brand.
And that’s cause enough to celebrate.
