Headlines Like 'Trump Meets Rump' Are Uncalled For

The U.S. daily New York Post is facing the music for its headline "Trump Meets Rump", which was used to cover a meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian.

Tomorrow's cover: Kim Kardashian visits the White House to discuss prison reform with President Trump https://t.co/1N3bNkVmK7 pic.twitter.com/yPaL93Tyhe

— New York Post (@nypost) May 30, 2018

The latter recently visited President Trump to discuss a potential pardon for a 63-year-old great-grandmother, who is serving life in prison for a first time drug offence. The reality TV star also discussed prison reforms with White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Kardashian stepped out to do some social good for a change, but the media just could not get beyond her derriere.

The focus should have been on prison reforms and Alice Marie Johnson, instead of Kim’s “Rump”

It feels weird to come forward in defence of Kim Kardashian, especially when she herself has capitalised a lot on her famous derriere. But this was certainly not the occasion to crack jokes on thongs and rump. We rarely see a commitment to a social cause from celebrities which is genuine. But instead of motivating them to keep moving forward in that direction, people remind them of where they belong. In the fake world of reality television and social media, where they are nothing more than superficial celebs.

The reality star’s public image compelled the media to take a dig at Kardashian. How dare she stop being a silly celeb? How dare she take up a social cause and use her position of power to divert the president’s attention to it? Instead of seeing this as a meeting between the biggest social media influencer in the world and the U.S President, the newspaper had to belittle the cause she was endorsing. Plus, it reduced woman worth 175 million dollars to her rump.

There are many who will argue that we should blame this objectification on Kardashian herself. She has made tons by objectifying her own derriere. Yes, she deserves criticism for that. But why do we have to fall for her gimmicks? More so, every conversation has a time. This was a time to discuss prison reforms, the questionable conditions of prisoners in the US prisons. This was a time to put the plight of Alice Marie Johnson, the 63-year-old who was handed down a life sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offence. There is so much to talk about regarding this case. There are tons of aspects that need to be touched, and we should be grateful to Kardashian for bringing such an important case of judicial injustice to light.

Which is why this headline and others like it are offensive. Just because a reality star is endorsing it, should not take away our focus from the real issue here. It is easy to make fun of Kardashian and trivialise her efforts. It might even get more clicks. But it does take the attention away from something really important. Something which deserved a big, bold headline across the front page, instead of shoddy wordplay.

Photo credit-The Guardian

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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.