As a millennial woman scrolling through social media every day, I often feel the pressure to look a certain way. Edited images of models, influencers, and perfect-looking celebrities feel inescapable.
It’s easy to become insecure when this is all you see, but the body positivity movement continues to gain more momentum. Many celebrities are helping oppose unrealistic beauty standards and aim to empower bodies of all shapes and sizes.
Some of our favorite celebrities are here to remind us that no matter what our body looks like, we should love it and cherish it. We are here for this type of HollyGOOD!
Lizzo
Lizzo lives and breathes the term “body positivity”. She constantly delivers positive messages of loving the skin you’re in, regardless of shape and size. Lizzo has even said she wants to take this movement a step further and feels that bigger women, especially women of color, are left out of the movement. Lizzo took to TikTok in a raw unfiltered message to followers.
@lizzoPlease use the body positive movement to empower yourself. But we need to protect and uplift the bodies it was created for and by.♬ original sound – lizzo
“Now the body positivity has been co-opted by all bodies, and people are finally celebrating medium and small girls and people who occasionally get rolls; fat people are still getting the short end of this movement.” She continued by saying, “Yes, please be positive about your body, please use our movement to empower yourself. That’s the point. But the people who created this movement: Big women, big Brown and Black women, queer women are not benefiting from the mainstream success of it.”
This isn’t a statement that is meant to denounce body positivity, but simply a reminder of who cultivated this movement in the first place — plus size black and brown women.
This year, Lizzo started speaking positive affirmations to parts of her body she once hated. If this is self-love, I don’t know what is.
We are forever grateful to the Queen, Lizzo. Please keep inspiring women to love the skin they’re in.
Jonah Hill
Recently, Jonah Hill’s positive body image message made waves on social media. The media and paparazzi have treated the famous actor’s body as a punchline for years, and it has had a negative impact on Jonah Hill’s body image. The “body positivity” movement has not been terribly inclusive for men, and it’s time to change that.
Jonah Hill’s advice for loving yourself: “Have fun. You’re wonderful and awesome and perfect.”
It is often that the paparazzi take unwarranted photos of celebrities, and because of stories like Jonah Hill’s, Hollywood.com has decided to #BanPapparazi.
BREAKING NEWS: From this day forward, we will not post another paparazzi photo taken without consent. #BanPaparazzi ? pic.twitter.com/COPOppbHdX
— HOLLYWOOD.COM (@hollywood_com) March 5, 2021
Hollywood.com will no longer support the unauthorized photos of celebrities, and we hope this is a small step for creating a more respectful and caring culture in Hollywood.
Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato has proved time and time again that she is the “Queen of real”, often sharing unedited pictures of herself and being an open book when talking about her eating disorder.
Demi Lovato opened up about her eating order recovery on Instagram, sharing that she actually lost weight when she changed her approach to diet and exercise.
“I don’t count calories anymore. I don’t over-exercise anymore. I don’t restrict or purge. And I especially don’t live life according to diet culture…and I’ve actually lost weight.”
She’s always there to remind us that filters can be harmful, and contribute to unrealistic beauty standards.
In Demi Lovato’s new Youtube documentary, Dancing With the Devil, she explains that she no longer lives her life to please other people, and is solely focusing on her own health and happiness. Dancing with The Devil is hard to watch, but is inspiring and is a reminder that you are not alone in your struggles
Demi Lovato is an open book and continues to let fans into her world. She just released her new album, Dancing with the Devil… the Art of Starting Over. Find out all about the Demi Lovato‘s album here.
One thing is for certain, we will continue to live in Demi Lovato’s world for as long as she allows us to.
Danielle Brooks
The Orange Is the New Black actress Danielle Brooks is a distinct voice for curvy women of color everywhere. Growing up, she was self-conscious about her body, but now the famous actress is making up for lost time.
While Danielle Brooks loves her body and curves, her outlook is more than skin deep. In an interview with SHAPE, she speaks on motherhood and how it allowed her to love her body in every part of its transformation.
“I don’t feel like we talk enough about the in-between that a woman’s body goes through when having a child. I think we talk about how cute that bump looks and how amazing the snap-back was, but who’s talking about the swollen feet, the heartburn, and the new stretch marks? There’s so much beauty in my body taking new shape every week, and it’s been quite a joy to know that I get to bring another life into this world.”
Danielle Brooks is here to remind women to stand in their power.
Sam Smith
Sam Smith is known for their velvety soft vocals and heart-wrenching lyrics, but the performer has also had their fair share of body image struggles. In Sam Smith’s early days of fame, they lost a significant amount of weight to meet the unrealistic beauty standards of Hollywood. Despite being fifty pounds lighter, they still didn’t feel happy with their body.
It was not until years later that Sam Smith decided to reclaim their body.
“In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks… Yesterday I decided to fight the f–k back. Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves.” – Sam Smith https://t.co/B5zyCP2Fz3 pic.twitter.com/W6IyH7z09E
— E! News (@enews) February 12, 2019
Sam Smith urges fans to love their bodies, fluctuation and all.
Sam Smith Posted A Shirtless Selfie Talking About Their Struggle With Body Approval Over The Holidays https://t.co/S1APmsNGYl pic.twitter.com/ZMvA0lHR3l
— The News Edge (@thenewsedgenow) December 18, 2019
These messages inspired others to love their bodies, big or small, and even connected fans with other influencers looking to make a change.
@samsmith body positive same heart different body ? loved the same in both ? pic.twitter.com/48Yx34dxHX
— Kevinkileysings (@kevinsings1117) February 13, 2019
Sam Smith posted on IG yesterday about his own struggles with body image. I compiled a list of ten queer/trans/POCs you can follow on IG who regularly talk about body positivity and — and serve looks in the process for @outmagazine https://t.co/ZpMwdjJHSa pic.twitter.com/jjO1xojwlm
— ???????? ????? ????? ???? (@mathewrodriguez) February 13, 2019
Serena Williams
The famous tennis player Serena Williams has faced plenty of judgment and scrutiny over her body, yet her confidence is unwavering. She was constantly told she wasn’t pretty enough or too muscular to play tennis, but Serena Williams was not hearing it from the haters.
Serena Williams uses her platform to be a voice for black women, and she learned this self-love from her mother.
“For every negative comment, there are 300,000 positive ones. My fans are incredibly supportive. I look like a normal athlete, a normal woman walking down the street, a thicker one. I’m OK with that. I love that. You have to be OK with yourself no matter if you’re size 0 or a little bigger, like me. A lot of other people say I inspire them to be comfortable with themselves. My mom was really strong on that, on learning to love yourself.”
Serena Williams continues to spread the notion of self-love, teaching her daughter, Olympia, these same values. Together, they make the ultimate dream team.
Khloe Kardashian
Last week a Khloe Kardashian photo was leaked on her Instagram account. The photo shows her in a more natural light and does not display the edited and airbrushed look that Khloe Kardashian usually posts on her social media.
While Khloe Kardashian looked great in the photo, she and her team worked hard to remove the unauthorized photo from the internet. This perplexed fans because they found nothing wrong with the photo, and this sparked public scrutiny towards this Kardashian sister. Khloe Kardashian quickly responded to this negative attention with a statement about her own insecurities and the pressure to keep up with unrealistic beauty standards in Hollywood.
The 36-year-old wrote, “In truth, the pressure, constant ridicule and judgment my entire life to be perfect and to meet other’s standards of how I should look has been too much to bear,” Kardashian continued by saying “It’s almost unbearable trying to live up to the impossible standards that the public have all set for me.”
Both Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian, posted loving comments to show support for their sister, saying “I love you Khloe” and “yes! you beautiful, strong, HEALTHY queen”.
Fans had mixed reviews on Khloe Kardashian’s reaction to the photo.
I’m extremely sorry for what we all watched happen to you over the past decade. It’s so unacceptable. Now would be a great time to throw diet culture in the fuck it bucket, stop editing photos, admit to the help you get to look how you do, and be transparent with your fans. ❤️
— Jameela Jamil ? (@jameelajamil) April 8, 2021
i have seen the Khloe Kardashian pic and she looks fucking great!
girl, give us more unedited photos! pic.twitter.com/JsZPCfIeLE
— ✨yeetball sub✨ (@sarahhyland87) April 6, 2021
i am empathetic to the pain and insecurities khloé kardashian admits she faces, but i think what is important to note is that the kardashian family has contributed if not created the beauty standard over the last 2 decades through photoshop, surgery, and exuberant wealth… https://t.co/lO2oxTfB6o
— simoné ✨ (@girlpowertbh) April 8, 2021
I know my followers are probably wildly disproportionately body-positive feminists who love a bum and tum – but who genuinely thinks Khloe Kardashian looks better in the non-Photoshopped picture? I just think she looks lovely.
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) April 8, 2021
Regardless of how you feel about the Khloe Kardashian photo, it is important to remember that she is still a human, and her body is beautiful at any size or shape.
Let the words of these celebs be a reminder to be kinder to yourself and others because we are all fighting the same battles.
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