If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
A classic interview question. One that my mom always practiced on me as I prepared for my college interviews. She would always get mad when I answered the question with the Kardashians, stating that they were not an appropriate answer.
My mom was happy when the question never came up in my interviews. I was upset, however, because despite my mom's protests, I truly believe the Kardashians are great role models, and I was ready to defend that if need be.
A role model is a person, commonly of an older age, maybe a celebrity or an older sister, who is looked up to by others as an example to be imitated.
What confuses many people, including my mom, is that not all role models have to be Mother Teresa. While many are, it is possible to look up to someone for reasons other than their kindness and good character. I obviously don't know the Kardashians personally, so I really cannot tell if they are good examples of either of these.
There can be role models of all sorts. Sports role models -- many athletes are charged every day with crimes, yet kids around the country still look up to them. Sibling role models -- if you look up to a sibling, there's nothing they can do wrong, even if they do something very wrong. Celebrity role models -- what they wear, what beauty products they use, it is all emulated by thousands of fans.
While they may be so for many people, the Kardashians are not my celebrity role models. While I do love to see what they're wearing and whom they're dating, that's not the reason why I look up to them.
I think the Kardashians are great businesswomen.
Now, before you laugh let me explain my case.
Of course, when you think of the name Kardashian, businesswomen is not the next thing that comes to mind. But maybe that is a good thing. If they seemed like real, stereotypical businesswomen, they wouldn't be "cool" or "in" anymore. I know I would be less interested in them. Instead, the Kardashians put up this fabulous life full of designer clothes, nights out and fun friends. People look at their lives and want to be them. These same people go out and buy the clothes from the Kardashian Kollection, they buy the makeup from Kardashian Khroma, they helping build up the empire even more.
Collectively, the three sisters, Khloe, Kim and Kourtney, have over 40 million Twitter followers. According to OK magazine, Kim Kardashian has a net worth of about $40 million dollars with endorsement deals ranging from Charmin toilet paper to OPI nail polish.
There are a lot of rich kids in the world. Sons and daughters of celebrities and business moguls, and what do those kids do? Sit around all day, and live off their parents' money. The Kardashians are a rare case. They grew up with a lot, and they took it and made so much more. You might say everything was handed to them, and in the beginning it may have been, but they took what they were given and created a name for themselves.
I look up to my mom, I look up to Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr., but I also look up to the Kardashians, and I will defend my right to do so.