Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala dress shows she’s a terrible role model to women

at the glittering A-list event is altogether expected, considering she is a billionaire whose brand is based around a distortion of ideal femininity, verging on the grotesque. She’s certainly pushed boundaries at previous events.

To my mind, though, this is her most shocking look yet. Only… not in the way she might have hoped. In a silver John Galliano corset-style dress that cinched her waist to an impossible degree, Kardashian took fashion to the extreme – and then pushed it (and herself) right over the edge. I found it painful to watch the footage of her struggling to smile – it looked like she might pass out at any moment.

I would argue that Kardashian has a responsibility, here. Yes, she shows grit, daring and tenacity – she’s clearly not averse to suffering for fashion or publicity (she had to be trained to sit in the Mugler dress and was unable to go to the toilet) – but what message is this sending to other women and young girls? It’s 2024 – should we really be showing off waists small enough to fit your hand around; women reduced to grimacing, gurning versions of themselves who can’t eat, speak or do anything but stand there and be admired? Isn’t a body “ideal” as small as this, in fact, dangerous?