Why does everyone hate Kim Kardashian?

Kim Kardashian is a household name, every time she makes a move; she makes the paper. She is the most scrutinized, vilified, photographed, reported on, talked about, criticized "celebrity" of our time. Yet with the levels of vitriol directed at her, you have to wonder how she got so famous to begin with, after all, don't you need fans for this level of success?
Kim, however, was born into the kind of life that leads to fame, daughter of infamous lawyer Robert Kardashian who represented O.J Simpson and social climbing mother Kris Houghton/Kardashian/Jenner, sister to Khloe, Kourtney and Rob. After divorcing Robert, Kris married Olympian Bruce Jenner, already father to Burt, Casey, Brandon and Brody, and they had two children together Kendall and Kylie. The Kardashian-Jenners are big family and at the moment almost every one of them is in the spotlight.
Starting as an assistant to Paris Hilton, Kim achieved the level of fame she now has after a sex tape was leaked by her ex Ray J, featuring her and him and some pretty sex tapey stuff. Mom Kris saw a way to spin this in a positive light for the entire family and by 2007, a reality series was born, with the help of Ryan Seacrest, Keeping up with the Kardashians. To date the show has had 9 series and 130 episodes, featuring Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, Kylie, Kris, Rob and Bruce, as well as Bruce's sons Brody and Brandon, Brandon's wife Leah, Khloe's ex Lamar Odem and current beau French Montana, Kourtney's boyfriend Scott Disick, their children Mason and Penelope, friends Malika and Jonathan Cheban, Robs ex-girlfriend Adrienne Bailon and in rare occasions, Kim's now husband, Kanye West and their daughter North. The show has spawned spin offs, the sisters share a beauty line and a boutique chain of stores DASH, a clothing line and a child's clothing line. The entire family, the sisters in particular have marketed themselves to the maximum and the earning potential is staggering. Yet everybody seems to despise them, reading through comments on news articles about the family is like flipping through the pages of the Mean Girls Burn Book. Here's a selection, an article on Kim's outfit during Fashion Week drew these responses "Her trademark sense of style is having NO style, taste or decorum. All this woman has to offer our today's society is to continually show off her silicon implants and fat injected ass, which has caused her to look deformed, while wearing ill fitting clothes. Sad really" and "My god KK is an absolute mess". Is she though? Really a complete mess? Its not a bad lifestyle for a girl who started with a sex tape. Early seasons of Keeping up with the Kardashians showed a much softer side to Kim, a girl who struggled with her self esteem, was careful with the jobs she took   

Kim Kardashian West

and was always professional even on an off day. She may be "famous for being famous" but the fact is momager Kris and husband Kanye can only take her so far, everyone's buying into Kim without even realizing it, love her or hate her, they are the ones keeping her in the spotlight, every article may draw a thousand horrific comments but whilst people are still reading and commenting, Kim stays on top and shes laughing all the way to the bank. Personally i don't mind Kim, plenty of other stars cemented front page fame with sex tapes (Paris Hilton was just a heiress before that tape an she dragged Nicole onto the front page with her after it) and i actually think shes quite beautiful, its clear shes had work done to change certain aspects of her body and face but she hasn't, despite the comments, gone to far. Shes got a nice, curvy figure and i genuinely quite like some of her style. Her parenting towards North gets a lot of hate with many assuming North is an accessory for a variety of reasons, such as North being front row at her fathers fashion show, yet nobody raised an eyebrow when Harper was sat on Davids lap at Victoria Beckham's show. People are outraged a girl can build a career and a multi million pound fortune from a sex tape but, surely, we should applaud this, Ray J released that tape to spite Kim, to get back at and shame her and instead she knocked his ass out of the water and turned herself into one of the highest paid and most famous women of this generation. She may not have a degree and she may not be famous for her mind, but who decides what its acceptable to build a fortune on, does it have to be your brain? Surely feminism should mean that its acceptable that if YOU, as a woman, want to make money from sex, or your body, you have the right to do so and should, without any judgement. That's the kind of feminism and equality i want to stand behind, after all, do any of the men in these situations get the same amount of hate? or disgust? Kim may have built a career from that sex tape but she wasn't the one to release it. Another bone of contention with Kim seems to be her love life, she married Damon Thomas in 2000, three years later, that relationship ended in divorce and Kim has claimed, without dispute, that Damon was abusive. Clearly though the press and wider public think Kim should've stuck around in that marriage, no matter how abusive he was. Her marriage to Kris Humphries famously ended after 72 days, at which time, Kris claimed, it was a set up purely for money and the show, yet he wasn't claiming that when he was making the money from it and, anybody, who watched him on the show was aware, the guy was a knob and whilst Kim kept silent during the divorce, trying to do it with a little grace, Kris made sure everyone knew what a bitch he thought she was. Her third marriage to Kanye seems to be going well, the pair are photographed together regularly, share a daughter North and anyone who has watched Kanye on the show can clearly see hes devoted to Kim, and lets face it, nobody's seen Kims sisters attack Kanye in an elevator have they Bey? Still that's not enough for the press. Then again they, and the public, always hate the stars who are on top, and love them as they are on the way down. 
Kourtney gets the least amount of hate, since having children Mason, Penelope and Reign Kourtney has grounded herself and adopted a attachment parenting mantra that's grabbing her more positive reviews, "She is so NORMAL compared to freak circus show Kim ! So refreshing !!! She actually wears normal clothes and acts like a mother should... Putting her kids as a priority !!!!!!!" I like Kourtney too, she does come across as a good mother and shes quite likable, as is her boyfriend (Lord) Scott Disick, who has provided the show with some of its funniest moments, Scott is always on form, he is sarcastic and dry and lately, since the death of his parents, fairly vulnerable. Scott draws pretty nice comments too, about how lonely he must be since his parents died and how much he clearly loves his kids. 

North West, Penelope and Mason Disick

Khloe takes a lot of krap, though she always looks stunning when shes photographed and is clearly slim but with curves, Khloe still gets referred to as the "ugly and fat" one. She married Lamar Odem fairly quick and fought hard to keep that marriage strong even after he was filmed slagging her off, talking about cheating on her and disappearing for days on end and yet still, he gets more sympathy for the breakdown then her, clearly appearing on the show caused it, despite the fact that the slowly fading basketball star was also making money from appearing and seemed happy when the cheques were rolling in from both the main show and his spin off with Khloe. 
Kendall gets it because she "hasn't had to work hard to become a model" but lets face it, Kendall might of been dreaming of being a supermodel since she was old enough to talk but because of her family's fame, through no fault of her own (she was a kid when the show started) she was never going to have to start the way other models do. Should she be penalized for making her own money? For being successful? Yeah she may have had a little help thanks to her family's name but Kendall is the one walking down the runways, maintaining the required figure, jetting back and forth for various shows and doing all the work now, shes also facing some playground bulling from other models because Kendall hasn't yet paid her dues. But should we base our opinions and worth of others based on our own struggles? One woman may have a difficult pregnancy and one an easy one, does that make their importance and worth as a mother any different? No. 

Brandon, Bruce, Brody and Leah Jenner

Kylie gets it quite bad too, the 17 year old is reportedly starting to look a bit like a hoe, the makeup, the clothes and the boyfriend are putting people off but have you looked around at 17 year olds today? Have you looked at 15 year olds today? They apply their makeup better than some 30 year olds and they are all on instagram and twitter racking up more followers with every pout. Kylies behavior is pretty normal for a 17 year old, unfortunately its just a little more public. 
Rob gets a lot of sympathy, he was seen as a heartthrob in early seasons but as weight crept on and self esteem issues crept in Rob has pulled back from the spotlight, something which his whole family has respected, they all get criticized for not "helping him" but how can anyone know whats happening behind closed doors?
Bruce is quite well liked, presumably untouchable, rumors of Bruce's transformation into a woman show no sign of dying down and whilst Bruce is getting all the support, people are still taking jabs at ex wife Kris who is struggling to handle the news, but ask yourself this, if your ex husband announced he was transitioning into a woman would you struggle a little? Absolutely. Does it mean she's unsupportive? No. Does it mean she's normal? YES.
Then again, if being the most hated Kardashian was a contest, Kris would easily be number 2. Accused of exploiting her daughters for her own gain any move Kris makes is a well criticized one. Helping her daughter go from sex tape star to cover girl with a perfume and clothing line? Exploiting her daughter in the sickest way apparently. Then again how exactly IS a mother supposed to react to a sex tape of her adult daughter? Yell? Scream? Or try change the public perception and make your daughter into a millionaire out of it? Option three seems to be working for Kim and she doesn't seem to be complaining. Kris hasn't exploited her daughter and shes not selling her for sex, Ray J did that, Kim just took back the power, all 5 million pounds of it while her mother had her back. Kris has helped Kendall step out as a model, she helped land the girls the clothing lines, the stores, perfumes, books, the covers, endorsements and shows. Jetting back and forth between each child, helping Rob withdraw from the public eye, managing the family's finances and keeping them in luxury. If a Kardashian scandal is about to surface, you can be damn sure Kris is on top of it before its even out, trying to stop it, preparing the statements, handling the damage control. Its a big job for one woman, but Kris has it handled and handled well.

Rob Kardashian and "Lord" Scott Disick.

What about the supporting cast? Brandon and Leah may not be Kardashians but who was buying their music before they starting singing in on the show? whether shes the daughter of a former Eagles rocker or not, it was the Kardashian connection that garned interest in the couple. Brody can hardly claim to be anything other than a reality star, starting on The Hills, Keeping up with the Kardashians was an easy move for him. Khloes best friend Malika seems to be enjoying the perks of a Kardashian connection and who had even heard of Jonathan Cheban before Kim? 
Even the spurned supporting cast have little to complain about, Reggie Bushes appearances were rare but they haven't affected his life, Lamar Odem landed a spin off with wife Khloe before he messed his marriage up playing away, he was doing quite well from the show for a slowly fading basketball star, even with the money he already had. As for Kris Humphries, he had no complaints about the fame, the holidays, the two episode special of his wedding to Kim UNTIL it ended and then suddenly, he had hated it all along? That's not the way it works Kris. 
Clearly whomever they Kardashians touch they can help spin from straw to gold, after all Jonathan (who even was he before Kim) Cheban is now worth a cool $3 million. Malika Haqq seems good purely for pouting and funny scenes with best friend Khloe but shes banked over half a million so far and its still growing. 

Kanye and Kim, Vogue.

And what about the Kardashian/Jenner clan themselves? Just how are they cleaning up? Well, starting at the top, Dad Bruce and Mom Kris were worth about 125 million together, their divorce is set to be finalized on March 23rd of this year, its unknown how they've split the fortune but neither is doing to badly considering they were living in much less opulent surroundings when they first started the show. Kourtney Kardashian is estimated to be worth between $18-20 million and boyfriend Scott is trailing behind with $12 million. Kim has a whopping $65 behind her. Khloe has pulled in around $20 million, according to reports in 2014, Rob has about 3.5 million in the bank, not bad for a guy who sells socks. Kendall is worth 3 million, not bad for a 19 year old, Kylie has a reported 2 million, the lowest earner of the clan, but at only 17 she has plenty of time to bring that up. Kims husband Kanye is worth 130 million, phew, that's a LOT of yeezy albums. Khloes beau French Montana has around 8 million, Kylies reported boyfriend Tyga is level with his girlfriend, 2 million net worth behind him. Bruces sons from marriages before Kris aren't doing to badly either, Brody Jenner has a nice 10 million to sit pretty on, Brandon and Leah are worth around 2.5 mill. That's a lot of money surrounding the Kardashian clan, seems like it could easily stir up some envy, after all Bruce may have been a gold Olympian but he wasn't worth what he is now back in 2007. The fact is Kim is a golden ticket and the rest of the family are enjoying the ride around the factory, Kim's come a long way from the girl she was after all, working as Paris Hilton's assistant is a long way from sitting front row at Paris Fashion Week, being front cover of American Vogue and marrying Kanye West. 
And that's it really, that's why everyone hates Kim Kardashian, because a girl who started scrabbling after a heiress who was front page after a sex tape, became the next front page after a sex tape and more than that, Kim then built up $65 million and has become one of the most photographed, talked about, tweeted about, written about, reported on, criticized, re-tweeted stars of our time. The girl from the sex tape has had 65 million times the success anybody thought she would and shes taken her family along for the ride and everybody it seems, HATES a success story and whilst we are criticizing, discussing, tweeting, commenting and keeping them on the front page we are securing their success story and in the meantime, nobody else is coming close to "Keeping up" with the Kardashians.