“If you’re thin enough then you don’t have that as* that everybody wants”: Taylor Swift’s Brave Confession About Unrealistic Beauty Standards Gets Much Needed Support
The grass is always greener on the other side. One might think looking at a relatively lean person how privileged they are for being that way naturally and vice versa. It also has a negative impact. The same “trendy” body type becomes problematic when the internet decides you’re “too much” of something. People dream of having the “trendy body type”. But what happens when one’s body type is out of trend? It is impossible to please the internet? Well… Taylor Swift is living proof of it.
In Taylor Swift’s Netflix documentary Miss Americana, the record-breaking singer spoke out about her relationship with her body and how one can never be enough and people voiced their support for her.
Taylor Swift on her relationship with food and her body image
The Internet is a weird place, especially for teens and tweens. When exposed to such vast “body-positive” content online it can sometimes mess up one’s psyche. People are supportive of one’s body until they are too fat or too skinny. Then people are “concerned”. This lets the young and impressionable youth believe they have to meet a certain unspoken standard of beauty to fit in. As Taylor Swift rightfully puts it,
“There’s always some standard of beauty that you’re not meeting–Because, if you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that ass that everybody wants. But if you have enough weight on you to have an ass, then your stomach isn’t flat enough. It’s all just f—ing impossible.”
The “ideal” body type that keeps getting promoted changes from time to time. Recently, Kim Kardashian was under fire for reportedly removing her iconic “BBL”. Does that mean people with natural curves are out of trend? It is very dangerous to believe, as human bodies don’t work that way. To sculpt a body according to trends can do significant damage to that individual physically, as well as mentally.
Taylor Swift recalls an incident where,
“a picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big, or… someone said that I looked pregnant … and that’ll just trigger me to just starve a little bit — just stop eating.”
And then again, after being called “pregnant” at such a young age for putting up a healthy amount of weight, when she lost a few pounds, people said, “She’s too skinny. It bothers me.”
A group of “concerned” people is always voicing their concerns. One can never truly win.
“But all I know is my own experience. And my relationship with food was exactly the same psychology that I applied to everything else in my life: If I was given a pat on the head, I registered that as good. If I was given a punishment, I registered that as bad.”
She later realized how dangerous the reward system she was following was. She is now in a healthy phase and understands herself way better. Thus, Taylor Swift speaking out on such a sensitive yet very common topic started a discussion.
Many are thankful to Taylor Swift for speaking up, including Lady Gaga
A clip from Taylor Swift’s documentary received a heartfelt reaction from Lady Gaga.
“That’s really brave everything you said wow.”
Wrote the pop star to the fellow singer. Taylor Swift is undoubtedly a very big name in the industry. The impact she has had on the music industry changed many things forever. And the army of “Swifties” throughout the globe came out to her support after Lady Gaga started the conversation. Taylor Swift now reflects,
“I don’t care as much if somebody points out that I have gained weight, it’s just something that makes my life better,–The fact that I’m a size six instead of a size 00, that wasn’t how my body was supposed to be, I just didn’t really understand that at the time, I don’t really think I knew it.”
Taylor Swift is glad that sooner or later she realized her mistakes. And thus wants to help others in similar situations. Just sharing her experiences and talking about them has made many realize and gave them the courage to start the journey towards betterment. Her words will probably save many from developing an eating disorder by breaking the myth of our “ideal” world.
Source: Page Six
