Ariana Grande noticed the constant comments online commenting on her body, and I had had enough.
Posting on her TikTok account(Opens in a new tab) On Tuesday, the singer and actor asked people on the internet to be more careful with their words, to admit that health and beauty manifest themselves in a myriad of ways, and to stop talking about people’s looks—total stop.
“I just wanted to address your concerns about my body, and talk a little bit about what it’s like to be someone with a body, to be seen, and to be very attentive,” Grande said, addressing her 31. 1 million followers. “I think we should be kinder and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what. If you think you’re saying something good or well-meaning…there are ways to compliment someone, or brush off something you don’t like, I think we should help each other work.” “There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful.”
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The star – who is currently filming a movie adaptation of evil He also said that people online should aim to keep each other “safe” by refraining from comments like this, and that online personalities often don’t convey the full extent of someone’s life and health.
Grande is the latest celebrity amidst a host of voices speaking directly about this kind of digital discourse. In February, actress and Rare Beauty founder Selena Gomez made a similar plea(Opens in a new tab) to commenters online via TikTok Live, after yet another flurry of chatter about her body size ignored her chronic illness. She said “I prefer to be healthy and take care of myself and my medication is important and I think it helps me. So yeah, she’s never going to be a model, she never will be.” Gomez is now the most followed woman on Instagram(Opens in a new tab)with over 400 million eyes on every post.
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In January, Grammy-winning artist Lizzo also warned about the “tiring” nature of body rhetoric.(Opens in a new tab) on her Tik Tok. I’ve seen comments go from ‘Oh my God I loved you when you were thick. Why did you lose weight? to “Oh my God, why did you get a BBL?” I loved your body before.” “Oh my God, you are so big,” she said. “Do you see the stray? Do we realize that artists are not here to fit your beauty standards? ”
The list goes on: Florence Bio(Opens in a new tab)Billie Eilish(Opens in a new tab)Taylor Swift(Opens in a new tab).
In their statements, Grande and others alluded to two different ways of thinking among health professionals and activists, known as body positivity and body neutrality. Body positivity, a term widely used by individuals and brands alike, prioritizes the concept of diverse beauty and self-love. On the other hand, body neutrality advocates the removal of any moral value toward bodily appearances, the deemphasis of beauty or desire in favor of acceptance.
Some online assume body positivity has lost steam because uninformed brands and celebrities have co-opted the phrase, pushing neutrality as a default response in similar ways to Grande’s first point. Others believe that they actually need to go further and advocate radical fat editing(Opens in a new tab).
TikTok has become a central gathering space for those navigating these different forms of body acceptance, as well as an organizing tool among those trying to redefine the way we all talk about fitness, health, beauty, and diversity. Last year, TikTok creator Elise Meyers went viral for her story about a negative childhood body image spurred by unsolicited comments from the adults in her life, which is begging all of us to do better now. Various creators with a positive body gain prominence in the application style(Opens in a new tab) and fitness spaces. Young generations on the platform learn from and repeat(Opens in a new tab) errors(Opens in a new tab) of those last.
Meanwhile, the internet and fans in general are facing a growing problem of parasitic hookups and non-sensual “thirsts,” putting celebrities at the center of unwanted and unwanted conversations about sexual attraction and beauty.
Throughout it all, real people sit behind the social media profiles, magazine covers, and popular media that dominate our lives and bear the brunt of Internet discourse, long before its consequences are discovered.
“You never know what someone’s going through,” Grande said in her post. “I was…at the lowest point in my life when I looked the way you considered healthy, but this, in fact, wasn’t healthy. I know I shouldn’t explain it, but I feel maybe like an openness and a kind of vulnerability here.. .may something good come of it.”
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