“But honestly, Kim’s pregnancy is just part — probably not even half — of what this weight controversy is about. The truth is that America loves knocking a woman down off of her pedestal. Kim Kardashian is not the first celebrity to be battered by tasteless body criticism. Some of the most powerful women on the planet — from Hillary Clinton to Oprah to Lady Gaga to Beyoncé and Michelle Obama — have been called fat (and it was meant as an insult) and had their bodies picked apart and scrutinized. It’s just another example of how inherently misogynistic our society is: Truly important qualities like talent, intellect, compassion and work ethic become inconsequential where women are concerned; the only thing that really matters is how she looks. We are all guilty of the sick objectification of women. How can we help it? We live in a world where a woman is not person with emotions but a collection of body parts for the public to judge, like a horse for sale. Look at those teeth. Check out those legs. Her eyes. Her nose. Her hair. Products are are marketed using boobvertising — no face, just parts.

I’m not a huge Kim Kardashian fan, I don’t watch her shows, and I don’t relish the idea of defending her. I don’t give a shit if you hate her clothes, or if you think her vampire facial is gross. But it’s sickening to see the magazines hurling the word “fat” — at a pregnant woman, no less — as an insult, treating her as though she’s committed some kind of treasonous betrayal, making money from primarily female readers participating in a psychologically destructive Ouroboros of a gossip cycle, where everything is black and white, you’re loved or loathed, thin or fat, good or bad, and thin is always good and fat is always bad and the worst thing you can possibly do is gain weight. Kim Kardashian could discover a new species of snail and the coverage would include her “snug-fitting lab coat.” It all comes back to fatphobia, intolerance, and a sad desire to feel superior by belittling others. It’s tragic, tiresome, and wrong, and Kim Kardashian is not the first to endure this garbage, but I can’t help wish she would be the last. Policing her size and breathlessly guessing her weight is a waste of energy that solves nothing. And so, in conclusion: SHUT. THE FUCK. UP.”