So, if you haven't heard yet, Kendall Jenner's latest photoshoot, done for Vogue Spain, features the 20 year-old model in a ballet studio, wearing ballet-inspired ensembles, and, well, trying to pose like a ballerina.

Watch the video here.

She states, “I had to grow up pretty fast, I loved being a kid — to run around like a child just not caring...I’ve always been adventurous, so I love doing stuff like that — I don’t know, just stupid stuff. I love walking around; being able to be free.”

Now, given, she's not explicitly saying that ballet is "stupid stuff," but the overall theme, that ballet is effortlessly whimsical, is an incredibly naive, uninformed one.

The truth, of course, is that, all around the world, countless men and women of the high-pressure, elite ballet world have grown up prioritizing ballet from a young age, sacrificing 'normal' childhood experiences, and, ultimately, paying their dues for years in the corps of smaller companies in order to reach companies like the ABT, the Joffrey, or the Bolshoi.

I began taking formal ballet classes at the ripe old age of 3, and, by the time I was 9, I was in my first pair of Bloch Suprimas. I loved those pointe shoes, because I'd spent six years earning them. I loved them because I knew what they meant: my ankles were strong, my feet were well-developed, and, ultimately, I was a warrior.

It is a well-acknowledged fact in the world of athlete psychology that ballet dancers are some of the most mentally strong people you'll encounter. Read more about it here.

Confused? I think Kendall Jenner would be. Because while she's spent a partial day of her life flapping around a studio and swishing her tutu, before I was half her age I'd learned the meaning of bloody feet, broken toenails, muscles convulsing from exhaustion, and sitting out some of the fun 'kid stuff' because there was still homework to do.

But I still chose it for seventeen years of my life, because, to those who've been given the gift of ballet, it's a part of us.

The best thing about being a ballerina, is that I could walk into a studio in Switzerland (no, I'm not terribly familiar with Switzerland) and take a class. Even now, after two years without formal training.

Why?

Because the necessities of ballet are universal, no matter what country you're in: strength, discipline, and endurance.

The fact of the matter is that while I'm 'retired,' I keep up with the industry I've fondly dubbed my first love.

I know that Isabella Boylston of the American Ballet Theatre spends about 10 hours a day rehearsing (that's excluding the time put in for regular classes, performances, etc.), only to earn between $20,000 and $50,000 a year.

The difficulty here, is that of course Kendall Jenner doesn't know about the grueling rehearsals, grizzly dancer-feet, or the astronomically high rates of anorexia and bulimia in the ballet world.

Why would she? She's a model, not a dancer.

But, this is exactly my point: she's a model, not a ballerina. We should blame her, or Vogue Spain, or her mom/manager for her outrageous narrative and ridiculous flouncing about in the shoes we've worked to earn.

Or should we?

We live in a world in which people who 'look the part' are paid to 'play' others in magazines, on billboards, even in videos like this one.

Perhaps the real culprit is an inauthentic world. Perhaps we, millennials, need to start expecting authenticity, rather than demanding a better looking reality.

The downfall of this inauthentic world is that ballerinas are seen as delicate little girls who twirl around clutching gauzy skirts and professional female swimmers are depicted as toned, sultry, curvy girls who hang out on cliffs overlooking the ocean in low-cut swimsuits that no one could keep on in an actual tide.

Apparently, this is swimming, according to one of the top sports magazines in America.

What's wrong with actual, imperfect athletes? What's wrong with female swimmers having the biceps and shoulders to rival men? What's wrong with ballerinas having powerfully built legs, toned stomachs, and scarred, bloody feet?

What's wrong with being Misty-freaking-Copeland?

And, of course, there's nothing wrong with that. The issue is that female athletes, of every kind, are still encountering the principle that a female, however accomplished in her field, must still depict 'femininity' in the traditional sense.

If she doesn't, someone will be hired to take her place, at least for the cameras.