‘We are real women with curves and cellulite’

Camila Cabello has got no time for body shamers, and neither should we. Earlier this week, the 24-year-old singer shut down trolls by posting a video of herself on TikTok, sharing an inspiring message of body positivity and encouraging people to embrace their curves just as she does.

Despite the increased advocacy of body positivity over the last few years, absurd beauty standards still weigh heavily on our society. Both men and women can be targets of body shaming, and celebrities like Cabello, as public figures, probably experience the worst of it. Tired of the needless speculation and commentary on her physical appearance, she decided to send a message to her body shamers:

“I was just running in the park minding my own business, trying to be fit, trying to keep it healthy,” Cabella said while in her car. She goes on to describe that she was wearing a top exposing her belly and wasn’t tucking it in. “Cause I was running and existing like a normal person that doesn’t tuck it in all the time… but then I reminded myself, being at war with your body is so last season. I am grateful for this body that lets me do what I need to do. We are real women, with curves and cellulite and stretch marks and fat. And we gotta own that baby.” 

She ended the clip singing En Vogue’s lyric, “Giving him something he can feel,” with her usual perfect pitch.

@camilacabello

i luv my body

♬ original sound – Camila Cabello

This isn’t the first time Cabello is expressing her opposing thoughts to mainstream beauty standards. In 2019, she had a few words to say after coming across body-shaming headlines about herself. She criticized society’s “completely unrealistic view of a woman’s body” and also called for the normalization of depictions of cellulite and fat.

In this day and age, it’s impossible to separate social media from the perpetuation and formulations of beauty standards and the effects on mental health. It has gotten to the point where the standard is indeed far from realism as people result to using FaceTune and Photoshop to keep up. This only encourages us to dislike how we truly are and promotes what is fake. So celebrities using social media to encourage normalcy is a gamechanger and perhaps the first step to undoing the popularity of harmful imagery. At the end of the day, fans prefer authenticity. After decades of unrealistic beauty standards and expectations, it’s about time for beauty to get real.