Ashley Graham is one of ta megastar in the plus-size modeling world. Image Source: Glamour
Body Image Issues are frightening, especially when society has already decided on what standards of beauty and body image are appealing to one’s eye and which are not. Celebrities, even though they look perfectly great on-screen, have to face scrutiny from fellow workers, the audience, and sometimes even their own family on how they should look in a certain way to stay attractive, which leads to a lot of mental health issues.
Many celebrities have come forward in recent years to speak out against beauty standards, urging everyone to allow them to be comfortable in their skin and body.
Here are some of the celebrities who have opened up about their body image issues:
Lili Reinhart: The Riverdale actress has been very vocal about her mental health and has clarified to the body shamers that she owes nobody an explanation for her body. The comment came after a picture of her and her boyfriend, Cole Sprouse, was circling with headlines suggesting that she might be pregnant. Lili slammed the body shamers with a comment, "It's unfortunate that one unflattering photo of my stomach circulating on the internet causes hundreds of people to think that I'm pregnant. Nope. Not pregnant. My body is something that I will never apologize for. My body will constantly go through changes. And so will yours. And that's fine. So let's not put so much time and effort into caring about a stranger's figure. "
Lili at Glamour’s 2018 Women of the Year summit also shared her experience of how she would examine her body constantly in the mirror, looking at something different every time. She said, "How can my body look so different over the course of one day, and why do I feel like I need to apologize to the world for my ever-changing self?" She added that the changes we make in our bodies, or she sees in her body, are learned behaviors and insecurities and it is the way to show "what's real with no filter, and certainly with no shame."
Ashley Graham: Ashley Graham is one of the people who are known for advocating body positivity and is a megastar in the plus-size modeling world. She has often taken to her social media to hit back at the haters who comment on her body. In 2017, when she shared a video of herself working out at the gym and one of the users commented harshly, she wrote, "Every time after I post a workout video I get comments like, 'You'll never be skinny, so stop trying,' 'Don't work out too hard, you'll get skinny,' 'Why would you want to lose what made you famous?' Just for the record, I work out to: stay healthy, feel good, get rid of jet lag, clear my head, show big girls we can move like the rest of 'em, stay flexible and strong, and have more energy. I don't work out to lose weight or my curves, because I love the skin I'm in."
Demi Lovato: Everyone knows that Demi Lovato is someone who advocates for positive body image and with the help of her social media, she penned down a lengthy caption for her followers and fans to understand that the comments on someone’s weight loss or weight gain can genuinely affect their mental health. There is a lot that the audience or the viewer might fail to see, and the comments can trigger something, causing the individual a lot of pain. The caption read, "I don't know who needs to hear this, but complimenting someone on their weight loss can be as harmful as complimenting someone on their weight gain regarding talking to someone in recovery from an eating disorder. If you don't know someone's history with food, please don't comment on their body. Because even if your intention is pure, it might leave that person awake at 2 am overthinking that statement. She continued, "Does it feel great? Yeah, sometimes. But only to the loud ass eating disorder voice inside my head that says "See, people like a thinner you" or "If you eat less, you'll lose even more weight". But it can also sometimes suck because then I start thinking "Well, damn. What'd they thought of my body before? ' The moral of the story: "I am more than the shell of my soul that is my body, and every day I fight to remind myself of that, so I'm asking you to please not remind me that that is all people see of me sometimes."
Lizzo: Lizzo is one of the active advocates for body positivity who is not scared to showcase herself out in the world as she is. The singer shared her unedited naked picture on her social media with a powerful caption to take a jab at people who body-shamed her. The caption read, "WELCOME TO TAURUS SEASON. To celebrate, I want to give you all these unedited selfies... Now normally I would fix my belly and smooth my skin, but since I am a baby, I wanted to show you how I do it Au natural." With her real and raw self, Lizzo believes that the step could help change the conversation about beauty standards.
In June 2020, Lizzo dropped a TikTok video where she showcased her workout routine and captioned it, "Hey, so I've been working out consistently for the last five years, and it may come as a surprise to some of you that I'm not working out to have your ideal body type. I'm working out to have my ideal body type. And do you know what type that is? It's none of your fucking business because I'm beautiful, strong, do my job, and stay on task. So next time you want to come to somebody and judge them whether they drink kale smoothies or eat McDonald's, or work out or not work out, how about you look at your own fucking self and worry about your own goddamn body because health is not just determined by what you look like on the outside. Health is also what happens on the inside—and a lot of you need to do a fucking cleanse for your insides. "
Jonah Hill: When he asked followers and fans to stop commenting on his body on various occasions, and earlier this year, when he showed off his new ink that read, "Body Love," he shared about his struggles. He wrote, "I don’t think I ever took my shirt off in a pool until I was in my mid 30s, even in front of family and friends. It probably would have happened sooner if my childhood insecurities weren’t exacerbated by years of public mockery of my body by the press and interviewers. I’m 37 and finally love and accept myself. This isn’t a "good for me" post. And it’s definitely not a "feel bad for my post." It’s for the kids who don’t take their shirts off at the pool. Have fun. You’re wonderful, awesome, and perfect. All my love. "
Sam Smith: Sam Smith is also one of the celebrities who have spoken up about how body shamers' comments have affected him and how much he wants them to stop commenting on his body. He posted a picture of himself shirtless (now deleted) as an act to reclaim his body and wrote in the caption, "Some may take this as narcissistic and showing off. But if you knew how much courage it took to do this and the body trauma I experienced as a kid, you wouldn't think those things. "
Source: PEOPLE
Gigi Hadid's statement. Source: Elle
It is not easy for anyone whether he/she is a normal human being or a celebrity to not get affected by unsolicited comments on their body or physical appearance as everyone has the right to enjoy themselves and be comfortable in their own skin and body.
