The reviews are in, and it sounds like Bay Area fans of Kim Kardashian West got plenty of what they paid for last night at her live appearance with the Commonwealth Club at the Castro Theatre and she didn't completely embarrass herself. Various members of the press were in attendance (though SFist's invitation must have been lost in the mail), including Page Six and the Chronicle, and as you can imagine, the takeaways were not exactly genius-level revelations.
On the subject of her body, which arguably is the single biggest reason she's famous, Kim chatted openly with interviewer LaDoris Cordell a prominent South Bay judge who tried valiantly, it sounds like, to sound like she was speaking to an intellectual equal. Kim says she had body issues growing up, especially as she grew double-D breasts, saying, "When I was growing up, there weren't a lot of [famous] women who had curvy bodies, not until Selma Hayak and Jennifer Lopez came along."
Kim was unapologetic on the topic of how she may have contributed to her own objectification, saying she doesn't espouse the "feminist" label, and saying "it's the media who exploits the images." She of course was the one who has chosen to pose nude for photographers, most recently and famously showing her full bare ass on the cover of Paper magazine, but, she says, taking a page from Camille Paglia that she's probably not aware she's taking, "I've chosen to put [the images] in there. I'm proud of them. I think there is power of that. ... I feel proud of that. Even if it's objectifying myself, I'm OK with that."
No surprises there.
The Chron adds that when she was asked whether she thinks her own nude and semi-nude selfie-taking contributes to young women trying to adopt unrealistic standards of beauty, she basically demurred, saying, "In some people’s eyes, maybe." They also note that all her answers seemed pretty "well rehearsed." She also admitted she was wearing Spanx pregnancy Spanx, to be exact, which "don't squeeze the baby" in order to hide her cellulite. Some more takeaway quotes, some also via CTV: On her selfie-taking prowess: “It’s all about lighting, and sometimes I take 30 before I get one I like." On why she's famous: "I really do love social media. I credit it to a lot of my career. My career is based on openness, openness and honesty... Maybe it's the bikini selfies. I think I definitely overshare." On her own work ethic: "There is this generation of young people girls who are beautiful but don't have a strong work ethic. People sometimes think that with looks things will be easy. But I just encourage people to put in the work." On her famous husband, and the topic of racism: "I think Kanye and I together have such great communication. He's very vocal about issues, especially racism. I think it will be very helpful for our children." On the outpouring of support for stepdad Caitlyn Jenner: "I think it's been more supportive than we ever could have imagined. Everyone has been so amazing. Caitlyn is so grateful for that." On her family's reaction to Caitlyn: "Everybody [in the family] has their own transition to accept and support this."
