This is the crux of the problem: Kardashian opened the tragicomic door by suggesting that Kylie Jenner’s actions (real or imagined) as a child of privilege are somehow more mature and logical than Rose’s underage decision to strip to survive poverty. The truth is, at face value, the differences between two teens making questionable sexual choices when they’re still developing are negligible. Things only become complicated when race and poverty rewrite the rules, making one woman’s scarlet letter another’s proud expression of individuality.
White supremacy may see a difference between a 9-year-old Kylie playing stripper for a reality show and a 15-year-old Amber entering sex work when she wasn’t even old enough to drive, but that’s just plain racism and classism rolled into one. Both are learning the same lesson—your worth is intrinsically tied to whether people want to have sex with you—only one had to learn it without a trust fund to fall back on. What’s fascinating is that all the money in the world didn’t stop the Kardashians from reaching the same conclusion Rose was forced to contend with under less optimal circumstances.
