Billie Eilish is calling out her body-shamers.
The 18-year-old GRAMMY-winning artist wants people to know her for her music, wearing oversized baggy clothing to avoid would-be body-shamers.
“That’s why I wear baggy clothes,” she previously explained in a Calvin Klein ad. “Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath. Nobody can be like, ‘she’s slim-thick,’ ‘she’s not slim-thick,’ ‘she’s got a flat a–,’ ‘she’s got a fat a–.’ Nobody can say any of that because they don’t know.”
Still, critics have judged her based on her style and perceived body type. And Billie is not here for any of it.
Kicking off her tour at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Monday (March 6) night, Billie made a bold statement with a video interlude talking about the double standards women face.
In the video, Billie, who has never publicly shown her figure, surprised fans by stripping down to her black bra as she sank into a murky black substance.
“Some people hate what I wear, some people praise it, some people use it to shame others, some people use it to shame me, but I feel you watching — always — and nothing I do goes unseen. So while I feel your stares, your disapproval or your sigh of relief, if I lived by them, I’d never be able to move,” Billie said in the voice over monologue. “Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest? Am I my stomach? My hips? The body I was born with, is it not what you wanted?”
“If I wear what is comfortable, I am not a woman. If I shed the layers, I’m a slut. Though you’ve never seen my body, you still judge it and judge me for it. Why?” she continued. “We make assumptions about people based on their size. We decide who they are, we decide what they’re worth. If I wear more, if I wear less, who decides what that makes me? What that means? Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?”
Billie’s empowering speech and visuals quickly became viral on social media, with fans urging others to listen to what she has to say.
This isn’t the first time that Billie has addressed how people talk about the way she dresses.
“[Even] from my parents, [the] positive [comments] about how I dress have this slut-shaming element. Like, ‘I am so glad that you are dressing like a boy, so that other girls can dress like boys, so that they aren’t sluts,’” she said during an interview with V Magazine. “I have always… just loved when a woman or a man or anyone in the world feels comfortable in their skin, their body, to show just whatever they want. I don’t like that there’s this weird new world of supporting me by shaming people that [may not] want to [dress like me].”
Brava, Billie!
