The American artist has been hailed as a symbol for body positivity throughout her career
The American singer, songwriter, rapper and formidable flautist, Lizzo, has taken to social media to spread a message surrounding "beauty standards" and body normativity.
In the post she uploaded to her Instagram, she shares an "unedited selfie" where she poses nude with no editing involved in the picture. As she details in the caption: "normally I would fix my belly and smooth my skin but baby I wanted [to] show u how I do it au natural".
https://www.instagram.com/p/CN5F2vZMHIE/?utm_source=ig_embed
As well as declaring this next month "TAURUS SEASON" (Lizzo herself being born on April 27th), she also announced that she has partnered with beauty, skin and personal care product retailer,
Dove, for the
Dove Self-Esteem Project.
The initiative strives to help young people build their self-esteem, feel more confident in their appearance and do not risk their health for the sake of outdated beauty body-normative stereotypes.
As explained at the top of their webpage, it is estimated that approximately "nine out of every 10 girls with low body esteem put their health at risk by not seeing a doctor or by skipping meals".
This is a damning statistic and just goes to show how society still discriminates and perpetuates social stigmas regarding a person's appearance and certain body types. Causes like the Self-Esteem Project are crucially important in educating young people of all genders about how to love yourself for how you are.
On the 20th of April, Dove also released a powerful video with the message: "Have
#TheSelfieTalk". You can watch the full thing below; the movement looks to build boy confidence and self-acceptance among young people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2T-Rh838GA
The short film highlights how many people are portrayed differently on
social media and how high-profile celebrities or influencers, especially, don't always offer an accurate representation of how people truly look.
Lizzo herself has often spoken out against "fat shamers" and challenged people's perceptions around what is traditionally considered as 'beautiful' or a 'desired' body type. As she explained in her Instagram post, encouraging others to embrace their natural beauty is important in helping "reverse the negative effects of social media".
We think this is an extremely important issue that needs to be tackled and we tip our hats to Lizzo for highlighting the disparity between curated, online personas and natural beauty.
