Kylie Jenner
may be quite young, but she’s already thinking about her legacy.
The reality
star has been named one of TIME’s Most Influential Teens for the second
consecutive year, along with her older sister, supermodel Kendall Jenner.
In a Q&A
with the magazine published online on Thursday,
Kylie opened up about the honor, and addressed the outrage some have expressed
about her and Kendall being recognized alongside names like Nobel Prize winner
Malala Yousafzai.
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The
18-year-old said that although the backlash doesn’t necessarily bother her, she
doesn’t think the list was ever meant to be a tool for comparison.
“I didn’t care what people had to say; I didn’t even read any of
that stuff,” she said. “People might have been upset because we were
next to, like, young girls who started schools and crazy things. But we’re just
different people! We’re influential in different ways, and that’s okay.”
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Kylie is aware of the cultural impact she has, along with her famous
family, but said the reach of her actions still catches her by surprise.
“I think people expect a lot out of [us],” Kylie said.
“Whether we’re influential for one reason or another, it is what it is. I
know how influential I am over my fans and followers. I feel like everything I
do, my hair color, my makeup, I always start these huge trends, and I don’t
even realize what I’m capable of.”
Kylie has
been in the spotlight for much of her life. The family’s hit series
“Keeping Up With the Kardashians” premiered in 2007 when she was just
10 years old, and the constant stream of attention ever since has caused her to
ponder what life could have been like without the fame.
“All the time. I dream about it,” she said, when asked if she
ever wishes for a “normal teenage life.”
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While Kylie didn’t express any regrets, she did discuss what it’s like
to exist without the freedom of anonymity.
“I never wish to have somebody else’s life – I was meant to have
this life for a reason, and I’m going to make the best out of it,” she
continued. “But I have normal friends. … I watch them get ready to go to a
high school party, hang out with their friends, go to concerts. I was
[recently] sitting at home and my friend said, ‘Come to this concert right now!
Wait… I forgot you’re famous.’ I can’t just get up and go to a concert. I’ve
never been to a concert like that with my friends.”
While the concept of normalcy remains elusive for Kylie, she said she’s
grateful for the privileges her own circumstances have granted.
“There’s a lot of stuff I’ve missed out on, but there’s a lot of
experiences [that I’ve had] that they were never able to experience,” she
added.
As for what lies ahead, Kylie said she isn’t putting any pressure on
herself to have it all figured out – at least not yet.
“Yeah, I am. I think I am,” she told the mag, when asked if she’s “comfortable” in her own skin.
“I know I’m still young and finding myself, and I’m still growing up. But
I’m okay with that, because it’s the best part of life, being a teenager. And
I’m doing it with my fans. We’re all trying to find ourselves, growing up and
making mistakes and trying something different. For me, it’s just a little
different because everybody’s watching me. When I’m 25, hopefully I’ll know
exactly what I want to do. But I’ll always want to have fun. That’s just my
personality.”
Although her
beauty and fashion choices generate headlines every day, Kylie is also
branching out into socially-conscious efforts, like her #IAmMoreThan
anti-bullying campaign.
Ultimately, when asked by TIME how she envisions her legacy, the youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan said she just hopes to make a
real difference.
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“That I’ve helped people and that it wasn’t just about me. That I was an inspiration for young girls,” she said of what she’d like to achieve through her fame. “And it wasn’t just getting your lips done and having good hair, but being a good person and inspiring other people to not bully other people and do good things and be nice to everybody.”
— Erin Biglow
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