No Body-Shaming in 2020! Billie Eilish Takes A Stand. [@billieeilish]

Billie Eilish Condemns Body-Shamers In World Tour Video Interlude

Billie Eilish’s oversized clothing has become her trademark. She explained in her 2019 Calvin Klein campaign “I never want the world to know everything about me, I mean, that’s why I wear big, baggy clothes: Nobody can have an opinion, because they haven’t seen what’s underneath.” However, Eilish made the decision to bare skin in the North American leg of her world tour; Where Do We Go? in Miami.

The singer took the issues of body image head-on, in a video interlude where the 18-year-old Grammy award winner is seen removing her top and lowering herself into a black pool of water as she confronts the commentary about her decision to wear loose-fitting clothes in her career so far. 

She says, “some people hate what I wear, some people praise it. Some people use it to shame others, some people use it to shame me. But I feel you watching, always. And nothing I do goes unseen. So while I feel your stares, your disapproval or your sighs of relief, if I lived by them, I’d never be able to move. Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest? My stomach? My hips? The body I was born with, is it not what you wanted”.

The interlude concludes with Eilish criticizing society for making “assumptions about people based on their size”. She asks, “is my value-based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?”. Fans flooded to Twitter to praise and rally behind Eilish for taking a stand against body-shaming. 

Female pop stars have always been put under the microscope when it comes to their choice of styling and clothing. Billie Eilish who has only just recently turned eighteen has been wrongfully scrutinized by tabloids for her decision to choose an over-sized clothing over the skimpy styles that many beloved starlets choose to wear instead. The problem here is that unfortunately, many people have gotten the idea that they are able to police what women wear. Especially if those women are what society deems as conventionally attractive.

Why is there a sell-by-date branded on female entertainers, in such a way that has pushed so many to constantly strive for a standard that is non-existent. They must be softer, prettier and sexier and be in constant competition with each other and their younger selves. Why? Billie Eilish has made a statement to us all that her opinion about herself and her body is the only one that matters. Giving us no other choice but to stan. 

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