Let’s be honest—we don’t have much in common with celebrities.
We don’t have the same cash flow, the same cars, the same Friday nights or the same outfits. We don’t casually take selfies with A-listers, and we don’t get millions of likes on our Instagram photos.
And while we are not in the spotlight 98% of the time, we do unfortunately share one almost daily struggle with our favorite actresses and singers: body shaming.
We probably don’t get publicly criticized for being too fat or too thin, too weak or too strong, too bony or too flabby, but the internal dialogue many of us face regularly can be just as powerful as a tweet seen by millions.Luckily for us, more and more famous ladies are crafting powerful responses to their public critics. So how do we learn from famous celebrities? We learn by internalizing how they respond to their haters and practicing that same language on ourselves.
Kelly Clarkson, who should be known for her powerhouse voice, hilarious personality and beautiful family, couldn’t escape body shaming on Twitter. Katie Hopkins’ comments were both rude and degrading, but Kelly’s response could not have been more incredible: “That’s because she doesn’t know me,” she said. “I’m awesome! It doesn’t bother me. It’s a free world. Say what you will.”
That’s exactly it. Katie Hopkins doesn’t know Kelly Clarkson. And Kelly Clarkson is awesome. She feels happy, she feels loved and she feels confident. She knows what she wants to receive attention for, and she won’t spend time panicking over the size and shape of her body, which says nothing about who she truly is.
It’s sad how many celebrities experience body criticism on a daily basis. This list of 19 celebrities who responded to body shaming is a great reminder of what it means to be confident and assertive. But the fact that the criticism is there sheds so much light on our culture as a whole. We focus on the bodies of celebrities because we are not 100% comfortable in our own. We point out the little things that are wrong because maybe, in a twisted way, that criticism will make us feel better about the imperfections we see on our own bodies.
This hatred reaches in all directions: even fitness personalities are not free from body criticism. Cassey Ho, the incredibly motivating and fun creator of Blogilates, released a video in response to comments she receives about not looking the part of a fitness instructor. The video is absolutely worth a watch. Through a fictional representation of what could happen if Cassey could actually take the advice of her haters, we are reminded that there is no perfect body and that changing our bodies just to change them will not make us any happier.
While we may never be publicly body shamed the way so many celebrities are, the sad truth is that many of us will internally shame ourselves for not living up to a certain ideal. Maybe it happens when you look at yourself in the mirror at the gym and realize your butt doesn’t pop as much as the girl next to you. Or maybe it’s right before you shower when you pinch that fat on your belly that you think isn’t supposed to be there. Or maybe it just blindsides you when you catch your profile in a store window and aren’t so happy with what you see.
So what can we learn from these celebrities? Respond to your inner critic the same way they respond to their public ones. Remind yourself of all the things you can do that are fantastic and beautiful and incredible. Practice talking to yourself the way you would talk to your best friend. You would never let them get away with shaming their bodies. Don’t let yourself, either. Remember: you are awesome, you are more than your weight and you are more than your body. It will take a conscious effort for a while, but pretty soon, your inner Kelly Clarkson will beat back that mean voice in your head and let you be proud of your body.
Feature Photo via ABC