Selena Gomez sought counselling after fat shaming comments.
There's a lot to dissect in that sentence. Let's!
1. Selena Gomez: I really like her. I respect her commitment to improving her singing voice, the fact that she recently came out as having Lupus, and her passion for helping charitable causes like Unicef.
2. sought counselling: Good for her! I think everyone could use therapy. We should all at least give it a try! Therapy teaches valuable coping skills and allows a healthy outlet for anger, sadness and fear. I wish more celebrities would discuss their medical and psychiatric treatments in order to normalize them.
3. fat shaming comments: This is the portion of the sentence during which the little devil on my shoulder has fire coming out of his nose and he jabs me with his pitch fork. "Fat shaming" is a loaded phrase.
Any person, of any size, can be fat shamed. Fat shaming is, quite literally, shaming someone for being fat (whether they are or aren't). It attacks them for being what society deems "too big" to be physically acceptable.
Says Selena to Elle Magazine: "I'd land at the airport and people would yell out, 'You're fat!'" It was awful". [Source].
I don't doubt the awfulness of that kind of public humiliation. Been there, done that. Many times. But Selena's reaction doesn't take into account that:
1. Selena is not fat, and
2. Plenty of Selena's fans are fat, and experience this (and much worse) every single day.
The article continues:
"This was the first year I ever dealt with anyone talking about my body," the singer—who's been working since the age of seven—said. But the whole ordeal was inspiration for her new album cover. "Even if I did gain weight, I'm fine. That's what the picture represents."
It must be bliss, reaching the age of 23 before one's body being the topic of discussion! I, and many of my fat colleagues, can recall being told as a child we were "too big" or "eating too much".
And the fact that Selena gained weight and doesn't care? Awesome. Weight shouldn't be her focus when she's just released her fifth studio album, Revival, and is doing what she loves.
But I wonder: Is Selena Gomez okay with gaining weight because she's still in the realm of "acceptable"? She still has a "normal" BMI, doesn't look big next to friends like Taylor Swift, can still fit into designer duds? Or is she okay with gaining weight because she loves herself and her body the way they are, and believes weight doesn't define a person's success or attractiveness?
As a huge fan of Selena (literally and figuratively), I truly hope the latter is accurate.
Maybe, with the success of Revival, will come a revival of pop stars' shunning beauty ideals.
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