“It kind of gives nobody the opportunity to judge what your body looks like. Arguably, every woman in the world is brave in that regard because none of us are meeting every characteristic of perfection, whether we want to or not.Įilish has been vocal in the past about why she wears clothes “ 800 sizes bigger” than she actually is. Refusing beauty norms, or merely falling outside of them, isn’t that brave it’s just an inevitability since those standards are increasingly harder to attain. The issue isn’t so much celebrating one type of body over another, but rather celebrating a body for its bravery, as if there’s something impressive about existing in the world even though your body doesn’t conform to narrow standards of beauty. But this is a false equivalence we praise thinness because we think it tells us something about someone’s worth, their inherent beauty, their value as a person. The goal of this kind of noxious positivity is to make clear that not being thin - either intentionally or not - is just as worthy of celebration as thinness has been since basically forever. (It includes helpful suggestions of things a fat girl can do in a bikini, including “wave at a plane” and “yell at a child.”)
Earlier this year, comedian Nicole Byer released a book called #VERYFAT #VERYBRAVE: The Fat Girl’s Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini. “They’re like, ‘It’s so refreshing that Mindy feels comfortable to let herself go and be a fat sea monster,’” she told Jimmy Kimmel in 2014. Mindy Kaling has spoken at length about the backhanded compliments she gets about being confident “despite” her size. Beyoncé talking about her FUPA is a comfort, as if she’s just as normal as the rest of us because of it. Adele being plus-size - or, later, not being plus-size - is a source of inspiration. It’s a common refrain anytime a woman in the public eye is seen eating in public, having hips in public, or having rolls in public. Now, it’s about Eilish’s “ bravery” in having a body atypical for celebrities because she’s seemingly not a size 0. Regardless, in an attempt to defend Eilish - a sincere attempt, often from other young women - a new narrative is being formed around her body. (Though it’s unclear whether the consensus initially was that Eilish is some hideous monster, or if that was just the ramblings of a few distempered men on the internet.)
There’s nothing salacious or grotesque about them, but that hasn’t stopped a number of people from tweeting cruel criticisms of how she looks, as if they were all waiting with bated breath for a reason to cut Eilish down.
The photos of her body are perfectly mundane, just her in a tight tank top and some Yeezy-style oatmeal-colored shorts. Inevitably, people on Twitter decided it was important to dissect it, including one person who tweeted, “in 10 months Billie Eilish has developed a mid-30’s wine mom body.” This week, paparazzi photos of Billie Eilish were published, in which she’s wearing clothes significantly more form-fitting than anything she’s worn onstage or at awards shows. She’s too young to drink legally, and yet it’s somehow permissible to start the time-honored tradition of picking her apart. There’s no good way to talk about an 18-year-old woman’s body.
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