"It's not a political statement. It's just my body," Lizzo said in response to sharing an unedited, unclothed photo on her Insta. The star has been open about her struggles with body positivity and her journey towards self-acceptance and has been a role model to all people who share the same anxieties. She prides herself in writing captions full of self-love and joy over her appearance and encourages others to accept the way they look, too. However, she's also saying that the "body positivity" movement should realign itself with "body normativity." One body type is not better than another, and learning to accept that wasn't easy for her.
Of the photo, Lizzo also said that while she'd usually "fix her belly and smooth her skin," she wanted to "celebrate" her body just as it is. The photo is a part of a Dove Self Esteem Project campaign, and Lizzo said it's "helping to reverse the negative effects of social media and changing the conversation about beauty standards." Lizzo said learning to love her own body was a means of survival for her. "[If] I'm going to continue to live in this body and survive in this body and be happy and actually enjoy life, I need to find a way to like myself," she said. "I was body negative for a long time."
"Most people are taught that body negativity is normal, right?" the 32-year old continued. "Then I became body positive, which is the opposite of that. It's disruptive. I believe everything I say about my body," she said. "But to push this conversation forward, we need to normalize it. When you see it, keep it pushing. Keep that same energy that you keep with all the other bodies you see. That's what body normative really means to me: I'm here, don't say anything. It's not a statement. It's my body."