Lizzo: Body positivity no longer benefits all body types

Lizzo. Picture: Instagram

Lizzo. Picture: Instagram

Published Sep 25, 2020

Share

Lizzo has slammed the body positivity movement for "not benefiting" the people that "created" the term, as she says it has become "commercialised".

The 32-year-old singer is known as an advocate for inclusivity, and has hit out at the way body positivity has become a "commercialised" movement that no longer advocates for curvier body types.

She said: "Now, you look at the hashtag 'body positive,' and you see smaller-framed girls, curvier girls. Lotta white girls.

“And I feel no ways about that, because inclusivity is what my message is always about. I'm glad that this conversation is being included in the mainstream narrative.

View this post on Instagram

‘Early in her career, Lizzo says, she was told by music-industry executives, “You can’t go white to Black. But you can go from Black to white.” Her response: “‘Well, I’m a Black woman. So I can do just about anything I want to do.’ How dare these people sit up and tell me who my music is going to appeal to or not?”... “When I go hiking or whatever,” Lizzo tells me, “it’s Black girls being like, ‘I like your music.’ ‘Hey, that’s Lizzo.’” These Black fans confirm for Lizzo what she already knows, that she’s “a Black woman making music from a Black experience”—and that her message can speak to anyone.’ - @voguemagazine story by Claudia Rankine. Link in bio.

A post shared by Lizzo (@lizzobeeating) on

"What I don't like is how the people that this term was created for are not benefiting from it.

“Girls with back fat, girls with bellies that hang, girls with thighs that aren't separated, that overlap.

A post shared by Lizzo (@lizzobeeating) on

“Girls with stretch marks. You know, girls who are in the 18-plus club. They need to be benefiting from ... the mainstream effect of body positivity now.

“But with everything that goes mainstream, it gets changed. It gets - you know, it gets made acceptable."

And now, the “Truth Hurts” hitmaker would refer to herself as "body-normative" instead of body positive, because she wants to help others understand that "being fat is normal".

She added: "I think it's lazy for me to just say I'm body positive at this point. It's easy. I would like to be body-normative. I want to normalise my body. And not just be like, 'Ooh, look at this cool movement. Being fat is body positive.' No, being fat is normal. I think now, I owe it to the people who started this to not just stop here."

Lizzo wants to see people change their opinion of beauty standards, but knows doing so will make people "uncomfortable".

Speaking to Vogue magazine, she said: "We have to make people uncomfortable again, so that we can continue to change. Change is always uncomfortable, right?"

Related Topics: