Why We Love To Hate Kylie Jenner’s Wealth So Much

While Forbes Magazine has crowned Kylie Jenner as the youngest self-made billionaire ever, this tag to Jenner’s wealth is problematic to many. The 21-year-old cosmetic entrepreneur is receiving a lot of hate on social media, as some believe that she is undeserving of this title, which was previously held by Mark Zuckerberg. This curious case of hatred towards Jenner’s rise in the business world is so interesting. Should we label her as self-made?  Hasn't her last name and the wealth it has brought, in form of inheritance, played a key role in her rise? Is it so hard to fathom that a 21-year-old celebrity is minting so much money so fast? Or are we all a tad bit jealous of her achievements?

SOME TAKEAWAYS

• Forbes Magazine has crowned Kylie Jenner as the youngest self-made billionaire ever. 
• Jenner’s achievements are unacceptable to many, simply because she is a 'Kardashian.'
• While she may have inherited celebrity status and wealth, we need to credit her for using it wisely to her own benefit.
• Not everyone with parent's money or popular status can be a billionaire.

Should we label Kylie Jenner self-made?

Let’s admit it, Jenner’s achievements are indigestible to many, simply because she is a Kardashian. She belongs to the royal family of mindless reality TV entertainment. The Kardashians are mega celebrities, soaked to their bones in money. How can a progeny of the Kardashian family be a “self-made” anything, let alone a billionaire? Is it fair to other hard-working, talented youngsters, with no inheritance to piggyback on, to crown Jenner the youngest self-made billionaire ever? Hasn’t her inheritance, her social media popularity and her famous last name played a big role in giving her a headstart over other youngsters in her league?

Agreed. Jenner is unreasonably popular on social media and comes from a wealthy family. This must have given her a jump-start to set up her business. But what after that? Do all kids with rich or famous parents make it big? We do not have to look beyond our Bollywood to prove how incorrect that is. On an average, the film industry launches a dozen star kids every year, amidst our cries of nepotism and unfair advantage. But how many of these kids actually make it big? Being a billionaire, or a celebrity or inheriting wealth are all separate things. Not all those who inherit money are able to build it into billions. Having famous parents or sisters can earn you millions of social media followers but it takes talent to convert that celebrity status into a brand.

Do all kids with rich or famous parents make it big? We do not have to look beyond our Bollywood to prove how incorrect that is.

Not every kid with celebrity sisters or famous parents possess the knack to make a brand out of their name. Similarly, not every talented person knows how to use it to make money. Jenner is talented, she is deserving of this title because she used the resources she had smartly. And while you can inherit everything from fame to money, you cannot inherit smartness. For that reason alone, Jenner is a deserving of the title. And as far as the title of "self-made" is concerned,  Forbes itself defines “self-made” as someone who built a company or established a fortune on her or his own, rather than inheriting some or all of it.

Do any of the Kardashians deserve the money they make? That is debatable, but it doesn’t change the truth. The Kardashians are famous, and it is people like us who made them who they are. It is we who made Jenner an online sensation. She could have squandered away all her money, or revelled in whatever she could make from being a social media queen. She chose to start her own line of makeup and built a brand which is a sellout, all on her own. So we can hate her for her popularity or her inheritance, but it feels unfair to hate her for working hard to cash those things and mint tons of money.

Picture Source: CBS Local

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Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are the author’s own.