IS KIM KARDASHIAN WHITE (AND WHY DOES IT MATTER ANYWAY)? Racial Fluidity, Identity Mutability & The Future of Civil Rights Jurisprudence

Sep 21, 2026

Conducting a semiotic analysis of Kim Kardashian’s racial identity, the article examines how race is socially constructed in action and considers the degree of agency individuals may hold within racialization processes. It traces the historical, legal, and sociological formation of whiteness, the changing meanings of racial belonging in the United States, and tests core assumptions in antidiscrimination and equal protection doctrine. It also links contemporary controversies to debates on diversity, identity, and colorblindness, emphasizing racial fluidity’s significance as society and law confront more malleable racial conceptions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages33

Reading Time1 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

INTRODUCTION

Kim Kardashian and the wages of whiteness

Why does Kardashian’s whiteness (or lack thereof) matter at all? post-racialism and its discontents

But is Kim white? Identity fluidity and the pleasures and perils of electing race

Keeping (the law) up with the Kardashians: modeling malleability and grappling with the jurisprudential consequences of identity fluidity

ARTICLE IS KIM KARDASHIAN WHITE (AND WHY DOES IT MATTER ANYWAY)? RACIAL FLUIDITY, IDENTITY MUTABILITY & THE FUTURE OF CIVIL RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE John Tehranian􀀍 ABSTRACT With the world’s most ubiquitous celebutante firmly cast in the starring role, this Article conducts an exegesis on the semiotics of Kim Kardashian’s racial identity. In the process, the Article explores the social construction of race in action, weighs the individual agency possible in the racialization process, and further probes the reality of identity fluidity at a time when society and the law are only just beginning to grapple with more malleable conceptions of race. After presenting an analysis of the social, legal, and historical formulation of the concept of whiteness and tracing the dramatic transformation of both juridical and popular notions of racial belonging over the course of American history, this Article draws upon Kardashian’s racial fluidity and recent controversies involving Rachel Dolezal and Elizabeth Warren to question some of our most fundamental perceptions about race and provide a unique spin on issues of diversity, identity, and colorblindness. All told, the Article highlights (for better or worse) the continuing relevance of race in American life and underscores the underappreciated significance of racial fluidity (in a time when society is growing increasingly “woke” about gender fluidity) and 􀀍 A.B. , Harvard University; J.D. , Yale Law School. Paul W. Wildman Chair and Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School. its potentially seismic impact on long-held, but rarely questioned, assumptions in antidiscrimination and equal protection jurisprudence. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................. 152 II. KIM KARDASHIAN AND THE WAGES OF WHITENESS ..... 154 A. What Does History Tell Us About Kardashian’s Whiteness? ...................................... 154 B. What Does the Law Tell Us About Kardashian’s Whiteness? ...................................... 157 C. What Does the Society Tell Us About Kardashian’s Whiteness? ...................................... 160 III. WHY DOES KARDASHIAN’S WHITENESS (OR LACK THEREOF) MATTER AT ALL? POST-RACIALISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS ......................................................... 162 IV. BUT IS KIM WHITE (AND WHAT DO RACHEL DOLEZAL AND CAITLYN JENNER HAVE TO DO WITH IT)? IDENTITY FLUIDITY AND THE PLEASURES AND PERILS OF ELECTING RACE ........................................... 166 V. KEEPING (THE LAW) UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS: MODELING MALLEABILITY AND GRAPPLING WITH THE JURISPRUDENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF IDENTITY FLUIDITY....................................................... 177 I. INTRODUCTION As journalist Erin Keane once quipped, “Like a round, shiny mirror, [Kim] Kardashian’s butt reflects back to us our myriad cultural panics and anxieties, inviting us to oil them up and present them to the world ”1 Because no issue has defined American history more than race, it should come as no surprise that, even on this point, the most omnipresent celebrity of our generation, Kim Kardashian, and her backside have relevance. 1. Erin Keane, All the Things We Project onto Kim Kardashian’s Butt: How One Woman’s Rear End Came to Mean Everything, SALON (Nov. 12, 2014, 9:15 PM), [https://ww](https://ww)[w.salon.com/test/2014/11/12/all_the_things_we_project_onto_kim_kardashians_butt_how_](w.salon.com/test/2014/11/12/all_the_things_we_project_onto_kim_kardashians_butt_how_)one_womans_rear_end_came_to_mean_everything [[https://perma.cc/5U7L-WC5S](https://perma.cc/5U7L-WC5S)] . For years, people have wondered whether Kardashian is white.2 By examining the radically different answers that law, history, and society give us, we may learn, at long last, the only remaining private detail of Kardashian’s life. Perhaps even more importantly, we can also shed light on the politics of identity, the vexing problem of race, and the s

FAQs

How does the article analyze Kim Kardashian’s racial identity?

It offers a semiotic exegesis of Kardashian’s racial identity and examines what different institutions and narratives—history, law, and society—say about whether she is white.

What relationship does the article draw between identity fluidity and civil rights jurisprudence?

It argues that increasing recognition of identity fluidity can disrupt long-held, rarely questioned assumptions in antidiscrimination and equal protection jurisprudence, potentially producing significant legal consequences.

Which historical and legal developments does the article use to challenge perceptions of race?

It traces the social, legal, and historical formulation of whiteness and follows how juridical and popular notions of racial belonging have transformed across American history, then applies this framework to controversies referenced in the text.

Sep 21, 2026

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