Kim Kardashian opens up on how the media affected her pregnancy and ‘killed’ her self-esteem

In a moment of vulnerability, Kim Kardashian discusses the disastrous effects social media had on her life. As we know, the Kardashian usually basks in the limelight and tends to use the attention to her benefit to boost her status, her business, and her lifestyle. However, there seems to be a moment in her career where the media simply went too far.

During her pregnancy with her first child North West, the SKIMS founder recalled how much pressure she had on herself at the time, stating that she was always comparing herself to her eldest sister’s body in the way that it “snapped right back” after pregnancy.

While on the We Are Supported By podcast, Kim remembered how much social media made her despise her body and even herself, though she was supposed to be over the moon about her first child. Unfortunately, her body image wasn’t the only thing that was affected by the media’s relentlessness.

Kim Kardashian on the media’s effect on her pregnancy and self-esteem

Yahoo! News reports that Kim Kardashian also struggled with her self-esteem at the time because of the constant comparisons that the media would make between herself and a certain famous icon who was also pregnant with her first child at the time–The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.

Whereas the Duchess was getting praise for how beautiful her body looked, the American reality TV star found herself as the butt of the joke, constantly being ridiculed for how much weight she gained during her pregnancy.

"It was really, really crazy. The Waif versus the Whale. It was so nasty. I don’t think it would really fly today, but it killed my self-esteem. I can’t believe that this was acceptable and that this was OK."

Kardashian is referring to articles written by media outlets like the Daily Mail that would leave her in tears because of how helpless she felt about how her body reacted to her firstborn. At the time, the celeb had preeclampsia, a condition that would often leave her body swollen in areas like the hands or the feet. She struggled with this condition during both of her pregnancies, and both times, the media wasn’t very kind.

“It really did change me,” Kardashian states, “and it made me pull back on what I shared [on social media].” To this day, this is something that she continuously keeps in mind.

Though Kim has since snapped back and got her revenge body, the lingering effects of the endless ridicule still remain.