Recently, it has come to my attention that people my age are becoming evermore opinionated with regard to certain celebrities and their media presence. This week alone, I’ve heard my peers saying that Justin Bieber doesn’t deserve to be famous, that The X Factor is incapable of producing talent, and that Kim Kardashian is an inspiration to women and the ideal role model for pre-pubescent girls the world over.

Wait, what?

Yeah, you heard me. Girls my age and younger are becoming victims of a delusion that threatens to wipe out everything that feminism has ever stood for, and that delusion goes by the name of Kim Kardashian. Now, while I try (and mostly fail) to keep my opinions on celebrity culture to myself, I simply cannot stand back and watch genuine artists like Justin Bieber and James Arthur become laughing stocks, while a woman with an IQ of less than her 32 years gains evermore credibility with impressionable young girls all around the world.

I have seen countless trending topics on Twitter regarding how beautiful this woman and her sisters are, I can barely log into Facebook without seeing statuses about whatever reality television show they’re taking part in these days, and I don’t think there’s a glossy magazine out there that hasn’t at some point or other, paid homage to Kim’s famous derriere. Now, while this all seems harmless, I personally feel uneasy when women like Kim become global sensations, and in this article, I hope to illustrate why.

My first point, and I may be being old-fashioned here, is that I don’t think a person deserves fame and fortune unless they have worked for it in some way. I believe in talent, and integrity, and elbow grease. What I don’t believe in, is the concept of getting a ‘free ride’ into a lavish lifestyle such as Kim’s, and this is exactly what Ms Kardashian has done. Kim was born into a rich family and spent her younger years tirelessly working the social circuits (and rich young men), before a sex tape of her was leaked that ultimately proved to be the thing that propelled her to global stardom. Now, while it may not be Kim’s fault that the tape was leaked (although this is debatable), what can’t be argued with is Kim’s reaction to the tape. At first Kim threatened legal action, but eventually settled with the hefty sum of £3, 000, 000 and it was from there that her, ahem, ‘career’, took off.

‘But of course she didn’t do it for the money,’ I hear you naive young girls shouting at me incredulously behind your computer screens. ‘Kim would never do a thing like that.’Er, would she not? Something else I feel I should point out, is that Kim sold her own wedding to the press for £1 million, before being accused by the very man she married of using him as a publicity stunt. Not only this, but Kim’s Tweets to her fans contain subtle advertising (she’ll endorse anything you want for £7000 a pop) and it is rumoured that she earns around $60,000 per episode of her reality television shows, in which every gritty detail of Kim’s private life is played out on screen for the entire world to see. Indeed it seems that Kim will sell just about any part of herself for a bit of money and attention.

And what if she does? I can hear you asking, although you’re starting to doubt her now. She’s a business woman. She’s a brand. She’s talented at selling herself… but is she? Is it really Kim putting any of the work into forwarding this glittery ‘career’ of hers, or is she simple pushed from pillar to post by publicists and staff who are dead set on milking her for every eyelash flutter that she has? I honestly can’t accept that it is Kim who secures herself guest appearances on television shows, that it is Kim who sits in a lab wearing a white coat and pouring her blood, sweat and tears into her latest own-brand fragrance, or that it is Kim who works out the strenuous routines behind her fitness videos. Neither is it Kim who actually designs or contributes in any way to the vast array of products that she endorses, from cupcake flavours to weight loss supplements (despite regularly being quoted as saying that she adores her curves and eats whatever she wants).

The sad reality of it is that Kim Kardashian does nothing. She is, at best, an opportunist, and at worst, a fame-hungry attention seeker with parent issues. There is not one thing that Kim seems remotely talented at (from her cameo acting appearances to her failed pop career), or particularly passionate about (with no charity work standing out). Instead, Kim floats through life having brief flings with rappers, American footballs and other celebrities’ cast-offs (sorry, J.Lo), crying about how difficult her life is and wearing dead animals. When you compare Kim with Beyonce, who was in her early twenties when she sang ‘Independent Women’ (‘I worked hard and sacrificed to get what I get, ladies it ain’t easy being independent’), to Justin Bieber, who was born into a poor, single-parent family but who had reached global stardom before his voice broke, and to Angelina Jolie, who has dedicated a major part of her life to charity work, suddenly her five fragrances and own-brand false tan don’t seem quite so inspirational.

Quite frankly, there is nothing else to say about Kim Kardashian and her family. I know that there will be little girls reading this that think ‘She’s just jealous’, and I don’t blame them for thinking that. After all, that is the belief that Kim herself probably holds when she is inundated with hate mail. Honestly though, when I look at Kim, I don’t feel envy. I feel pity. Sure, she may be beautiful and she may be rich, but her life is plagued with emptiness. All Kim has to show for her 32 years on this planet is a string of meaningless relationships, superficial friendships with Hollywood socialites and a family that quite clearly care more about their ratings on television than forming any kind of real bond with the people closest to them. I may not have a waist as tiny as Kim’s, or hair as shiny as Kim’s, or as much money in the bank as Kim does, but what I do have is the love of my family and friends, an education, and my entire life in front of me. Sadly, Kim has none of that, and if Kim Kardashian is the epitome of success, then I’ll take sinking into oblivion any day.