Celebrity habitus, confessional style: Self-reflective bodily instruction in Khloé Kardashian’s Strong Looks Better Naked

Abstract

The article examines Khloé Kardashian’s self-help book Strong Looks Better Naked from the perspective of representing a celebrity-based inspirational guide that extols the values of exercise and healthy living and in terms of key tenets of the autobiography. In this context, the article argues that the book represents an in-depth example of Sean Redmond’s concept of the ‘celebrity confessional’ in that it uses self-reflective disclosures to connect with readers. However, given the confessionals of bodily issues revealed in the book, the article explores how Khloé Kardashian’s narrative critically exhibits, drawing on the work of Bourdieu, a double sense of habitus. This is explored through her insider perspective that articulates the bodily norms and expectations associated with contemporary celebrity culture, and through her revealing of her own relationship with this culture, a factor significantly exacerbated through her membership of the Kardashian family and its extensively mediated celebrity brand.