The Fat-Shaming on Khloe Kardashian's New Show is Not OK
By Sara Gaynes Levy. Photos: Getty Images.
Khloe Kardashian has a complicated relationship with body and size. She's both taken and dished out body criticism (she once called her brother Rob's weight gain "infuriating"), and she coined the term "revenge body" for her post-divorce shape-up. It's great that Khloe cares about health, but it often comes off as body-shaming—and nowhere is that more obvious than in the trailer for her new show, called, aptly, "Revenge Body."
The series is basically The Biggest Loser meets Kourtney and Khloe Take [Insert City Here]. Khlo acts as a mentor to young women—and men—who are on a mission to lose weight and get healthy to, puzzlingly, get "revenge" on someone, who according to the trailer could be an ex-fiance, a mom, or friends. The idea that losing weight is somehow a clap-back to haters is bizarre and totally un-body-positive. Even as Khloe says "it's not about a weight number. It's about how you feel," she's not doing much to further that message with the series, which features a doctor actually saying "pretty doesn't come easy."
Look, being healthy is important and noble. But so is self-acceptance, especially if you're on a journey to better yourself. And what Khloe's team of professional pretty-makers are essentially telling these young people is that the self-acceptance can't come until the end of the journey, which is insanely counter-productive. There's a reason that the shame-based method of training and coaching people is so inherently controversial—it's dehumanizing and, in some cases, is still risky to a contestant's health.
And since Khloe is someone who's been bullied and attacked for her body, I expected better from her. Of course, we'll have to wait until the series premieres on January 12 to see just how far she (and the show) go. But no matter what we end up seeing on TV, we can hope everyone who appeared on the show is feeling strong, happy and beautiful in their own skin.
Watch the full clip here.
This story originally appeared on Glamour.
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