“Your body is perfectly yours, even if it ain’t perfect to anybody else.”
On Dec. 13, “Good as Hell” singer-songwriter Lizzo gave fans and followers a glimpse into what exactly she had been up to for the 10 days prior: a smoothie cleanse. In a series of videos posted on her Instagram story, Lizzo shared what she ate each day, which consisted mostly of fruit and veggie smoothies and snacks, along with alkaline water and “beauty” water. But in a crazy (read: sadly predictable) turn of events, folks got in a tizzy about it.
The main argument (if you can even call it that, because why are we still trying to tell people what they can and can’t do with their bodies at this point? ), was that the “Juice” singer was essentially aiding in toxic diet culture by promoting an unhealthy fad diet and consequently negatively influencing impressionable women girls around the world. Folks were also trying to throw up the fact that since our bodies naturally rid themselves of harmful toxins, a smoothie cleanse is nothing but a poor and harmful attempt at good health.
But let’s be real. In fact, let’s be ALL the way real. Folks aren’t mad about all of that. In fact, folks aren’t even mad at the smoothies. What they’re really mad about is the fact that no matter how much vitriol and hate they push out towards Lizzo, at the end of the day—she’s gonna do whatever the hell she wants to do with her own body. And they can’t do shit about it. The ugly truth is, in a society where fatphobia runs rampant and self-love is revered as a radical concept instead of a natural thing, seeing someone bigger than a size 4 proudly loving themselves in whatever way they choose will never sit right with the majority.
But because Lizzo is more gracious and accommodating than I am, she took to Instagram in not one, but two posts to express the true message behind what she shared.
I detoxed my body and I’m still fat. I love my body and I’m still fat. I’m beautiful and I’m still fat. These things are not mutually exclusive. To the people who look to me, please do not starve yourselves. I did not starve myself. I fed myself greens and water and fruit and protein and sunlight. You don’t have to do that to be beautiful or healthy. That was my way. You can do life your way. Remember, despite anything anyone says or does. DO WHAT YOU WANT WITH YOUR BODY
I honestly couldn’t have said it better myself. We (and be “we” I mean y’all because this was never any of my business in the first place) should all take a page out of Twitter user Ash’s iPhone notes and go about our day. Haters gonna hate, so keep doing you, Lizzo.