The Kardashian-Jenner Alliance has gotten together for a photo session for the first time in four years–and Cosmopolitan magazine was there to document the moment. It was a mutually beneficial photo session for the two parties: Cosmo got to celebrate its 50th birthday with the most popular group of celebrities in the Western world, and the family itself got a new moniker. Cosmo has named the Kardashians America’s First Family (and left off the rumored asterisk that would have included the text “Except for the President and First Lady and their children”).
So–are Kardashians America’s First Family? Here’s another shot of the six Kardashians and Jenners who showed up for the shoot:
Says Ryan Seacrest, Keeping Up With The Kardashians‘ executive producer, “[The Kardashian-Jenner Alliance’s] unvarnished candor reveals how close they really are. What’s more, they present acceptance. You look at Bruce and now Caitlyn—you see the power of a family to come together when it would be so easy to fall apart. There’s comfort in viewing that steadfastness of love.”
Of particular note, though, is the fact that Caitlyn did not join six other family members for the Cosmo spread.
There’s already been a fair amount of backlash against Cosmo‘s decision to name the Kardashians America’s First Family. Time now has an evolving story on the angry social media reaction; Bustle has a pro-decision piece that’s worth a read, provided you’re not seeing so much red that you can’t make out text on a screen; and the Washington Post has largely eschewed commentary in favor of the thousands of responses currently blowing up Twitter.
The Post also has a Cosmopolitan spokesman’s reaction to the huge reaction: “We are teasing! Though who knows, if Kanye runs for president then we may be soothsayers.”
“[The Kardashians] are a huge cultural phenomenon,” the Cosmo spokesman went on. “What we do know is there is nothing like the cover of a magazine to provoke a national conversation.”
As far as raw statistics go, Cosmo might have a point. The Obama family, for example, has a collective 75 million social media followers. not counting potential overlaps between the President and First Lady and between social media platforms. The Kardashian-Jenner Alliance, though, has a whopping 350 million followers. There are more K-Js, true, and there’s almost certainly a huge number of people who follow two or more of them at once. So it’s not as if 350 million different people follow all six of the ladies on the “Kardashians America’s First Family” cover. For sheer star power, though, the K-Js probably rule the day
Still: a lot of people are talking about whether or not the Kardashians are actually America’s First Family, and some of those people are also talking about what it means to be the First Family. Does it mean that you’re the most popular, or the most visible? Does it mean yours is the family America looks to for moral support in times of crisis–or for a moral compass in times of uncertainty? Is America’s First Family the family that best sums up the American state of being? Or is it something even less tangible than that?
(Photo credits: Kardashians America’s First Family via Instagram)
