Bloody Students: Khloe Kardashian and the revenge body

Maxine McArthur is a caffeine addicted, box set maniac who mentors part-time to support her full-time shopping addiction.

Unless you’re 50+ you will probably have heard of the ‘revenge body’- a phenomenon that is sweeping the nation involving young scorned woman dieting and exercising to the extreme to say a big ‘haha’ to their exes.

And that’s great, if you want to stick it to your ex who dumped you - go you and best of luck. My problem is this - now every single time the body of a woman changes it has a direct correlation to a man. If you’re thinking that makes absolutely no sense, you’d be right.

When Khloe Kardashian lost more than two stone and graced the cover of Complex magazine looking fantastic, after following a strict diet and working out five days a week she was no longer considered the ‘fat’ Kardashian - only for it all to be completely swept under the rug by Khloe referring to her amazing transformation as a ‘revenge body’.

For young women around the world it’s becoming a trend that every time they put on a dress, wear make-up or head to the gym it’s presumed their attempting to impress a guy. Why!?

I can honestly say when I get up in the morning and pour concealer over my face it has nothing to do with any men that I might meet that day and more to do with my desperation to cover the huge purple circles under my eye. Yet somehow, whenever I lose weight I’m plagued with questions over my relationship status and if I’m currently mid-fight with my boyfriend.

And it’s not just an issue for young women or even students, it’s starting much younger than that. Just this week I noticed a retweet by my 16-year-old sister which said: “Why you all dolled up? Who you trying to impress?” Followed by a picture of the words ‘Me, Myself & I’ because apparently we really are trying to tell teenage girls that they can only get dressed up when a guy is involved.

By the time you’re old enough to even look at the television, you’re plagued with the likes of Rihanna caked in make-up grinding over guys in a music video with their picture perfect – and often photoshopped – bodies. From the youngest of ages, we’re telling girls they have to look a certain way, filling their heads with a mantra for perfection and then when they do try to look good we shame them again by saying they’re just doing it all for a boy.

It’s time to stop telling girls how to act and demeaning their self worth by continually linking their actions to random guys who most likely haven’t even entered their minds. Girls, if you want to wear heels or red lipstick, do it and do it for you. 

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