It’s not that what she sells (makeup… mostly, but also a Lifestyle (TM) that is out of reach for almost everyone) is less valuable than an operating system or an empire of web and data services — it’s the part where her starting wealth was created from some of the worst parts of our culture. The obsession with fame. The manufactured sex tape scandal. The “reality” tv shows. The fad dieting, surgically altered, your-job-as-a-woman-is-to-be-beautiful crap that we already know is harmful to young women, only we decided to splash it over billboards and airwaves and fetishize it.

I agree with the article’s premise, that no billionaire is ever truly self-made, and that her path to makeup empire is no different than anyone else’s. And I agree that in some cases, the critique is no deeper than “makeup isn’t valuable, and also girls are dumb.” But for me, when I say that it is unearned, it is not anger at Kylie, it is anger at the fact that her entire family has made an empire off of being attractive, rich and scandalous while producing absolutely nothing of value. Heck, the fact that she actually makes a product gives her more scruples than the rest of them right there.