Call her what you want, but Kim Kardashian invented a college of self-branding. From her ability to market her God-given assets to her shrewd understanding of a growing economy, we could all benefit from attending the Kim Kardashian Krash Kourse on Kapitalism.

Regardless of whether you love her or like to hate her, birthday girl Kim Kardashian's influence nowadays is undeniable: Her wedding 2 Day Diet Lingzhi Pills photo is the most-liked photo on Instagram; when she covers a magazine, it has record--breaking sales; when she endorses a product, legions of fans snap it up (as evidenced through the massive success of her iPhone game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood). She, shrewdly, won't disclose actual figures, but it's rumored that a sponsored Tweet from Kim can cost upwards of $20K. That's $143 per character--if she even elects to make use of 140 characters, that is.

From business decisions, to create choices, to her relationship with her family, it turns out that modern women can learn quite a bit from Kim. And no one predicted this better than her fawning husband, Kanye, who told GQ come july 1st, "In to win at life, you'll need some Kim K skills, period."

1. How you can spin any situation into a powerful new career:

We will discuss this right away because it's the very first dart Kim-haters love to throw: that 2007 sex tape. Nowadays, sex tapes are viable marketing tools, their tantalizing powers eagerly utilized by minor celebrities seeking another hit of fame. But Kim took the questionable business model and refracted it: Not just did she sue Vivid Entertainment for "leaking" her tape, but also she won $5 million within the settlement. Then, Kris Jenner, who'd been shopping ideas for a real possibility show in line with the family, realized that she had a better chance of selling the show with Kim's name. As Amanda Scheiner McClain, author of Maintaining The Kardashian Brand: Celebrity, Materialism, and Sexuality, explains, the Kardashians took advantage of the "low-level stuff that titillated and fascinated the American public." Lowbrow-brilliant=power move.

2. How you can own your sexuality:

Lying under haters' claims that Kim is "only" famous due to the sex tape, there's a Puritan-tinged shock, and maybe a little bit of jealousy--not that Kim made the tape, but that she's succeeded in spite (and because) of it. Even without sex tapes, our Madonna/whore complex--that ugly American tic that sees women as either virgins or sluts--pushed young women from Britney Spears to Christina Aguilera to Miley Cyrus toward carefully orchestrated "coming out" phases, by which they shifted their image from innocent good girl to sexual, deflowered woman. We pressure them into publicly redefining themselves, because once they show indications of leaving the piety cage, we can not just let them walk free: We must capture them in another.

But Kim is emblematic of the alternation in the cultural script: The Kim we've gotten to know through seven years of Checking up on The Kardashians, social networking, television appearances, and interviews, isn't wild. She doesn't drink. She prioritizes monogamous relationships. She loves her child, husband, and family. Kim is really a walking contradiction--a "sexy good girl," as McClain puts it. She will pose provocatively for Playboy, then go the place to find have dinner with her family. Kim's contradiction--her refusal to be seen as either 100% slut or 100% pure--is an even more accurate reflection from the complex sexual lives women today actually lead.

3. How to talk about women's bodies by themselves terms:

On Twitter in February, Kim addressed tabloids bullying her about being pregnant weight gain:

"Get a life! Using pics of me 15lbs skinner (before I'd my baby) comparing to me now! -- Anyone who has had a baby knows how hard it's to shed weight (especially the last bit of weight) & your body totally changes! Making fun of me pregnant & making fun of me attempting to lose weight now shame on you. I am not perfect but I will never conform to your skinny standards sorry! -- Don't give young girls an intricate!"

Again, Kim's body occupies a unique space: Her full-figured-yet-petite silhouette lives somewhere between perfection and reality. (And for what it's worth, she's still hard on herself: "I'm not gonna refer to it as baby weight bc thats a reason," she tweeted on August 5. "I just gained weight & there you have it. why do Li ji Shou so much harder to lose after baby though!!") For those she's accomplished--using her body, yes, but also her brain-we still focus on her looks. But while her beauty helps her profit, she also uses it to spark an essential dialogue about our culture's obsession with an idealized physique.