Why we should stop defending celebrity bodies
It has become a predictable pattern: celebrity and entertainment magazines post a photo of an aging female celebrity under the guise of celebrating her body, but using terms that sound like backhanded compliments (e.g., Jennifer love Hewitt “shows off her curves”) and making statements that are just ambiguous enough to elicit a great deal of attention and commentary from the masses.
Inevitably, the posts draw comparisons to “before” and “after” photos and evoke comments about “successful” aging. The comments range from protest (e.g., “She looks great!”) to denigration (“She isn’t aging well.”). And then come the deluge of reactive posts in which the celebrity is defended by prominent influencers and regular folks alike, many of whom are proponents of the body positivity movement.
Although well-intended, these reactions and follow-up posts aren’t likely to be productive in the long run. Sure, getting validation on the internet from strangers that a certain celebrity’s body is fine the way it is might be helpful at first thought. And it might make us feel better about our own bodies - but this is fleeting.
In the long term, it would serve us better to use a common parenting practice in response to these celeb rag posts: ignore them rather than fuel their incendiary behavior. Paying them attention rewards the behavior. It gets them the clicks they want, the rage they want, and sends the message that women want to see more of these kinds of body-scrutinizing posts. In short, we are giving them the attention that they simply don’t deserve. And we have the power to stop it by disengaging from it.
More importantly, we have a bigger problem if we feel the need to get validation about our bodies and ourselves from posts on the internet. We don’t need to convince others about our self-worth – we need to convince ourselves. Building a healthy body image is an inside job that requires self-reflection about unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and also demands that we shift our focus away from our bodies and instead to other aspects of ourselves.
Recent calls to engage in “critical ignoring” emphasize best practices for navigating our overwhelming digital environment successfully. We don't have to pay attention to inflammatory body talk. We can instead choose to spend time cultivating our skills, behaviors, and talents and show the next generation of girls that this is the healthy path forward. We can engage in health behaviors that focus our attention and energy on body functionality and body respect, which are important irrespective of our size and appearance, and often serve to increase our sense of self-worth. In short, we can effect change in our environment not by responding to celebrity media trolls, but by refusing to feed them.