OPINION: Kim Kardashian on work ethics and calling out arrogant male influencers

I’m writing this after an eight hour shift at Subway and the smell of meatball marinara lingers in my hair. But, according to the final girl boss, the undisputed queen of Instagram and reality stardom, Kim Kardashian, I need to get my ass up and work.

“Get your f*cking ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days,” says Kim Kardashian in an interview with Refinery magazine as a promo for their new reality TV show, The Kardashians.

Just as the uproar on Molly-Mae's take on the 24-hour clock quietened down, Kim K reignited a backlash against privileged millionaires telling normal women their work ethic is lacking.

Although these comments are oblivious, we have seen hundreds of outraged tweets calling out the ignorance of extremely rich and gorgeous women preaching about the universe being an even-level playing field.

I’m not disputing the idiocy of the comments but there is something to be said about the gaze through which we esteem female ‘influencers’ and male crypto millionaires, entrepreneurs and hustlers.

An influencer is a loaded term reserved more often than not for women. The label insinuates a self-entitled, brainless, talentless bimbo. Influencers have huge followings on Instagram and many can thank reality TV stardom for catapulting their notoriety.

Sarah Manavis in the New Statesmen unpicked this double-standard with the case of Steven Bartlett, the creator of The Diary of a CEO – the very podcast where Molly Mae’s infamous 24-hour line aired. He has an impressive rags-to-riches back story.

According to Manavis, he didn’t grow up with privilege, rather as an outsider. He was the only black boy in an all-white school in the south-west after moving from Botswana. He got into university after underachieving academically but dropped out of Manchester Metropolitan University after one lecture.

Manavis argues: "He is, in reality, more of a bluffer than a prodigy – an influencer and motivational speaker masquerading as a marketing genius."

Bartlett commodifies success as something accessible to anyone if they have the right mindset. According to his video REVEALED: HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE BEFORE YOU'RE 25, “you can become a millionaire by doing virtually anything”. He uses the examples of selling paper or even strawberries ‘really f*cking well’ to earn success.

These comments ooze ignorance, yet no one is having a meltdown when the words come from the mouth of a man.

It's time to call out male influencers, who are often labelled entrepreneurs or businessmen and pitting them to the same standards as their female counterparts.

Edited by Michelle Almeida