The Manufactured Rivalry of Blue Ivy and North West
The celebrity children have constantly been pitted against one another since birth, and it’s time for society to stop projecting its own insecurities onto them.
Since they were babies, Blue Ivy Carter and North West have been compared to each other by millions of people online. The first-born daughters of some of the most prominent celebrities of the century, their lives were always going to be under society’s microscope, but recently, that scrutiny has warped into something more sinister and increasingly inappropriate as the young teenagers grow up and evolve into their own personalities, styles and career paths.
With both of them in the spotlight, it’s easy for people online to form an unfounded idea of their lifestyles and attitudes, but nobody seems to remember that they are talking about children, nor do they think of the repercussions those comments might have on the girls as they enter the most delicate stages of adolescence.
As infants, the comparisons between the two were already rooted in negativity. Texturism, featurism and other racial undertones clouded discourse around literal babies, with many people quick to ridicule Beyoncé and Jay-Z for their daughter’s “unkempt” hair and appearance, using West as an example of what they thought Carter should look like. From the beginning, the two girls have been pitted against each other, creating a false sense of competition and rivalry between them that they played no part in perpetuating.
Over the last three years, we have seen more of Carter and West than ever before. Carter captivated hearts performing on tour alongside her mother, soft-launching her budding career as a multi-hyphenate rising star. West, on the other hand, is following in her father’s footsteps and pursuing a career in music. Her debut EP, N0rth4evr, was released earlier this year, with the 13-year-old about to go on her first tour in August with rapper Molly Santana.
Many have voiced their opinions on the parenting of the two teens, feeling it’s too early for them to perform on tours or kickstart their careers. However, recent criticism and comparison has had more to do with their appearances than their talent.
West, though young, already has a very distinctive style. She’s at the age where you want to play around with your appearance, dye your hair and wear whatever you think is cool that month. Her alternative look is highlighted by bright, turquoise hair, New Rock boots, oversized, all-black outfits and dozens of fake piercings on her face and hands. Nearly every teen goes through a similar phase in their personal style journey. The only difference is that West has the resources and creative freedom from her parents to fully lean into the look.
That very look has had the internet in an uproar for months now. Every time a new image of West goes viral online, there are days worth of discourse dissecting every aspect of her hair, body and clothing, using her parents’ fame as an excuse to heavily scrutinize a child.
At the Vetements Spring/Summer 2027 show in Paris, West arrived in her usual uniform: an oversized hoodie, a pleated skirt, platform boots and her signature fake piercings. The commentary has been disappointing to say the least, with many going as far as to call her parents failures because of her appearance. The most notable commentary came from those comparing her to Carter, as the 14-year-old had just attended an event in New York celebrating the 30th anniversary of her father’s debut album.
For over a week now, images of Carter from the Met Gala, basketball games and the Mufasa: The Lion King premiere have been placed side-by-side with images of West from Paris Fashion Week. On top of that, an AI video of West has been making the rounds on social media, fabricating an Instagram Live clip of her claiming to have “beef” with Carter.
The irony of it all? The same people using Carter as an example of what a teenager should look and dress like spent days online after the Mufasa: The Lion King criticizing Carter’s dress and its seemingly low neckline. In the same way they were quick to disparage Kim Kardashian’s parenting style, Beyoncé was criticized for letting her daughter wear a dress that they felt was “too grown.”
The adultification of both girls is at the heart of the modern comparisons. Whereas when they were children it had to with hair and features, now it is about how their bodies are developing and how they dress around that. When Carter wears a gown with a sweetheart neckline, there is a problem. When West wears her baggy tees and hoodies, people also take issue with it.
Neither of them can win in this landscape. There will always be someone holding a microscope to their lives and movements simply because of who their parents are.
Society flips back and forth on who their favorite is between the two. For some reason, the day West was born — a little over a year after Carter — society decided only one can be at the top of whatever fictional pyramid they came up with. When it became clear their paths would rarely cross growing up, their parallel childhoods became everyone’s new obsession.
For years, West was the internet’s favorite baby, with her big personality and adorable outfits. When Carter started following in her mother’s footsteps and dancing on stage during the Renaissance World Tour, she was inescapable online as everyone was quick to post and praise each of her performances. Even during their highest moments on this manufactured hierarchy, people found something to complain about and criticize.
At the end of the day, the two of them are just children who didn’t choose to be born to some of the most popular celebrities of our generation. There is little regard to how the girls might feel coming across those comments, particularly the ones about their bodies.
Adolescence is a difficult time for any kid, with heightened self-consciousness, insecurity and fluctuating self-esteem making it difficult not to take the odd comment to heart. West and Carter have been forced to endure that experience on an astronomical scale that the average person could never understand. One “wrong” move, and thousands of strangers can disregard your humanity and turn you into a conversation starter for weeks.
It’s time we remembered our own childhoods and adolescence and extended some grace to West and Carter. The constant comparisons, criticism and commentary is wholly unnecessary and frankly dehumanizing. People treat them like dolls or characters, speaking with no thought towards their mental health and wellbeing.
The two of them have grown up under society’s microscope, but that doesn’t mean they should be treated like an experiment, picked apart and heavily surveilled. We need to let kids be kids — the concept of childhood and growing up shouldn’t disappear once your parents are famous.
