Lizzo Wants To Normalize Fatness; ‘I Think It’s Lazy for Me To Just Say I’m Body Positive at This Point’
One thing fans love about Lizzo is how real and unapologetic she is. Whether she’s calling out trolls for criticizing her weight and workout routine on social media or dragging an Airbnb owner for treating her unfairly, the “Truth Hurts” artist has no qualms about speaking her truth. Lizzo’s confidence and unapologetic nature have inspired millions of her fans to get more comfortable with themselves also.
Because the talented rapper constantly emits confidence and self-love, she is often referred to as a beacon of the body positivity movement. But how does Lizzo feel about that responsibility and the body positivity movement as a whole? In an interview with Vogue the “Cuz I Love You” artist shared that the body positivity movement has been appropriated to some extent. Brands have certainly capitalized off the movement and it has been co-opted by those who had no hand in creating it.
Lizzo on the shift in the body positivity movement
“It’s commercialized,” Lizzo shared about how the weight of the body positivity movement has shifted. “Now, you look at the hashtag ‘body positive,’ and you see smaller-framed girls, curvier girls. Lotta white girls. And I feel no ways about that, because inclusivity is what my message is always about,” the talented musician shared. While the “Truth Hurts” rapper is thrilled that the movement has become conventional, she worries that it has shifted to leave out those who it was originally created to uplift.
“I’m glad that this conversation is being included in the mainstream narrative,” Lizzo admits. “What I don’t like is how the people that this term was created for are not benefiting from it. Girls with back fat, girls with bellies that hang, girls with thighs that aren’t separated, that overlap. Girls with stretch marks. You know, girls who are in the 18-plus club. They need to be benefiting from…the mainstream effect of body positivity now. But with everything that goes mainstream, it gets changed. It gets—you know, it gets made acceptable.”
The ‘Truth Hurts’ artist want to normalize fatness
Lizzo continued on to share that it’s not enough to say that she’s a supporter of the body positivity movement. As that has become the standard for most people, the singer wants to continue to push the envelope and stand for things that may cause discomfort for some people. She wants to normalize being of a heavier weight rather than simply being body positive.
“I think it’s lazy for me to just say I’m body positive at this point,” Lizzo revealed. “It’s easy. I would like to be body normative. I want to normalize my body. And not just be like, ‘Ooh, look at this cool movement. Being fat is body positive.’ No, being fat is normal. I think now I owe it to the people who started this to not just stop here. We have to make people uncomfortable again, so that we can continue to change. Change is always uncomfortable, right?”
Lizzo brings new insights and nuance to an important conversation
We certainly appreciate the insight and nuance that Lizzo brings to the conversation. As body positivity continues to be a marketing tool for brands, it’s important to make sure that nobody is made to feel less than because of their body, particularly those who have done the work to start the movement in the first place.
