Lili Reinhart opens up about the realities of body dysmorphia after fan backlash
Yesterday, Lili Reinhart took to Twitter to raise awareness of body dysmorphia after fan backlash over her Harper’s Bazaar July 2018 cover shoot.
In the interview, the ‘Riverdale’ actress spoke candidly about her own insecurities and explained how Hollywood muses, Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly, helped her to accept her body image growing up.
“Marilyn Monroe was a curvy girl: she had boobs and she didn’t have a 24-inch waist. To me that’s really inspiring and makes me feel like my body can be accepted.” —@lilireinhart channels the icons of Old Hollywood and talks life in the spotlight: https://t.co/z7b8GMWfej pic.twitter.com/SO0JK7B5wk
— Harper’s Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) July 2, 2018
She told the US publication, “Marilyn Monroe was a curvy girl: she had boobs and she didn’t have a 24-inch waist. To me that’s really inspiring and makes me feel like my body can be accepted.”
y’all need to stop letting girls built like Gigi Hadid a platform to talk about how their bodies “aren’t accepted” like they’re not the industry standard. it’s tiring.
— oh, bite me (@abelsbbygirl) July 3, 2018
But the 21-year-old faced backlash after one fan tweeted [sic]: “y’all need to stop letting girls built like Gigi Hadid a platform to talk about how their bodies ‘aren’t accepted’ like they’re not the industry standard. it’s tiring.”
The comment soon amassed over 1,258 likes and 130 retweets but Reinhart was quick to prove the critics wrong.
In response, the actress replied: “My body is not like hers. Thought that was quite obvious. Insecurity exists outside the limits of a certain dress size. You’re not helping the problem.”
Feeling really disheartened by the fact that so many people are saying “you’re skinny so shut up about embrscing your body.” As if my body dysmorphia is irrelevant because of how I look to some people. I’m either not curvy enough or not skinny enough to feel insecure.
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) July 4, 2018
Reinhart then went on to debunk the myths surrounding body dysmorphia in a series of tweets explaining how you can suffer the disorder regardless of your size.
Telling someone they don’t deserve to feel insecure because their body is “fine” or “just like” whomever.. is wrong. That’s part of the problem. That’s part of body shaming.
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) July 3, 2018
“Feeling really disheartened by the fact that so many people are saying ‘you’re skinny so shut up about embracing your body,’” the actress wrote. “As if my body dysmorphia is irrelevant because of how I look to some people. I’m either not curvy enough or not skinny enough to feel insecure.”
Mental illness gets worse when people say that you don’t have a right to feel the way you do. That’s where we are dailing. Do not encourage this behavior. It is destructive. More destructive than you’ll ever realize. You may not understand someone’s insecurity- but respect it.
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) July 4, 2018
In the Twitter thread, Reinhart also warned how body-shaming can have a negative impact on a person’s mental health, as she continued: “Mental illness gets worse when people say that you don’t have a right to feel the way you do. That’s where we are failing. Do not encourage this behaviour. It is destructive. More destructive than you’ll ever realise. You may not understand someone’s insecurity – but respect it.”
But it’s not the first time the actress has spoken out against body-shaming, as she took to Twitter to call out pregnancy rumours back in May 2018.
An unflattering image circulated the Internet with claims that her and boyfriend Cole Sprouse were expecting their first child.
Understandably, she took to Twitter to write: “My body is something that I will NEVER apologise for. My body will constantly go through change. And so will yours. And that’s fine. So let’s not put so much time and effort into caring about a stranger’s figure.”
We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.
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