Recently, Popstar Lizzo took to social media to share her 10-day juice cleanse she was partaking in. The internet did not take this news well and released tons of backlash onto the singer. People were angry with Lizzo for “promoting toxic diet culture” and in turn resulted in many claiming she was “fatphobic” and hurting those who looked up to her for body positivity.
Now, there are several things wrong with this. Lizzo has had issues with her digestive system for a while now and consulted with a dietician in order to obtain a healthy and safe diet that would help relieve this problem. She is in no way doing a detox to lose weight and be super thin like many have been claiming. The “fatphobic” claims are comedic actually, Lizzo has been vocal about loving herself and her body, It’s all in her music.
This sheds light on a more important issue, how the internet reacts to women and what they do with their bodies. Wanting to lose weight, at a healthy rate, is in no way wrong. Wanting to gain weight, in a healthy way, is not a problem either. The body positivity movement has turned into a culture that pressures women to be happy in a body they may not want. If a person is overweight and wants to lose weight in order to prevent health complications, why should they be forced to stay overweight just to be “body positive”?
Another issue with the internet and body positivity lies within internet stars. Any content creator who isn’t thin and is on the thicker side automatically becomes a body-positive icon. Lizzo has always been creating music that uplifts people and spreads positivity, including songs like “Fitness” that talk about personal exercise.
However, this doesn’t make her responsible for the people who look up to her because of her body. If Lizzo wants to diet and exercise, then that’s nobody’s business. Lizzo is not JUST her body, she can make choices on what’s best for her and the backlash for that is unnecessary. This goes for any person, people choose what they can do with their bodies and the internet is not an open invitation to judge someone.
