Kim Kardashian and Ye [who recently legally changed his name] West are, once again, the center of tabloid and Instagram drama. The two, who were previously married and share four children, have been having issues that are being dragged out in the public eye.
This isn’t abnormal for Kardashian, who starred in a reality show with her family for years.But the difference this time is that the societal acceptance of abuse of females in power is on full display.
To be absolutely clear, I have never cared about the Kardashian empire and I like about three of West’s songs. That’s why when I became so enthralled by the new drama unfolding on Instagram, I was surprised.
After days of checking Instagram to see if anything new had developed and reading articles about West’s claims that Kardashian was keeping their children from him, I realized the issue.
As someone who is familiar with abuse, trauma and to be honest, an absolute true crime lover, I was captivated not by the people in this situation but the deep sense of foreboding I would feel when I saw a new article pop up.
West’s posts seemed to be abuse through social media manipulation. There were clear signs of love bombing, gaslighting and outright verbal and emotional abuse.
According to healthline, examples of love bombing are excessive gifts, overwhelming compliments, bombarding amounts of communication, issues with boundaries and professing that you are soulmates, amongst others.
West blatantly did all of these to Kardashian, from sending her a truck of roses on Valentine’s Day, buying a house across the street from her, praying that God would bring them back together and taking issue with not being allowed in her home whenever he desires.
When things began to escalate to West threatening and cyberbullying Kardashian’s boyfriend, Pete Davidson, online, that feeling of unease grew.
Not only did West attack Kardashian’s new partner, but sent a call of arms to his fans to harass Davidson if they saw him on the street. Things then quickly escalated to West releasing a music video with horrific implications.
West took things to another level with his video, “Eazy” where he murders a claymation Davidson, even going so far as to behead him.
Let’s just take a second to think about even one of these actions. If West wasn’t a celebrity, if he was a friend’s ex, or even your own friend, this behavior would be concerning to the point of police intervention.
There are so many different red flags in this situation but the one that doesn’t seem to be getting enough attention is how we, as a society, sat back and watched.
Fans applauded West for “protecting his family,” when he was, in fact, exhibiting abusive behavior and violent tendencies. Davidson and Kardashian fans were seen commenting to just ignore West.
Isn’t that part of the problem? Why is anyone ignoring such blatant and concerning behavior without action being taken? Why is this even being viewed with a modicum of acceptance?
We have got to do better, according to Forbes.com, 80% of Americans have experienced emotional abuse. 80%. Just think about that statistic, because I can’t be the only one thinking that instead of romanticizing a toxic and abusive situation, we should be seeing the reality.
Those affected by situations similar to Kardashians should have better examples of how society backs women who are being harassed or abused.They should see that mental health and diagnosed mental disorders, like West’s bi-polar disorder, are not here for amusement.
This is abuse. This is toxic. This is not okay, and we need to do better. We need to be the ones who start the awkward conversations, the ones who have the resources for those who need them. We need to be more than anonymous faces behind a screen, allowing the use of celebrity to outweigh the danger of toxic relationships.
Follow Ashley on Twitter! @AshleyFairchi14
