We all know that celebrities love using social media to share the best (and sometimes, yes, the most filtered and edited) versions of themselves. Although we enjoy following famous people and getting a glimpse of their real lives, we really love when celebrities use their big platforms to get radically honest. Valerie Bertinelli was recently in the headlines for sharing a raw and honest video on Instagram where she talked about her struggles with self-loathing and learning to love her body just as it is right now.
What Valerie described are feelings that a lot of us face. Learning to be body positive can be hard, especially when we look at our bodies as we age, have babies, and live through a freaking global health crisis! And even though toxic diet culture and crazy fad diets are still very much a thing, especially this time of year, some celebrities are pushing back on those tired narratives.
As we understand more about body positivity, we know that deciding to embrace our bodies and to stop feeling bad for not living up to some mythical Instagram version of perfection is good for our mental and physical health. Choosing to follow these body-positive accounts also can be good for mental health, so scroll on for some celebrities who are worth a follow.
Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys is all about being comfortable in her own skin. She famously swore off wearing makeup when she felt like she'd become addicted to it, and she once shared her body-positive belief: "We as females are the most beautiful, gorgeous creatures on the world. I think that we're gorgeous no matter what size we are. I'm grateful that I actually feel like that because I think a lot of us feel we have to be some tiny size in order to beautiful."
Jonah Hill
Body positivity isn't just something that women need to embrace. Actor Jonah Hill has clapped back at critics who've talked about the changes in his weight.
"I don't think I ever took my shirt off in a pool until I was in my mid-30s, even in front of family and friends. Probably would have happened sooner if my childhood insecurities weren't exacerbated by years of public mockery about my body by press and interviewers," he wrote on Instagram. "So the idea that the media tries to play me by stalking me while surfing and printing photos like this and it can't faze me anymore is dope. I'm 37 and finally love and accept myself."
We love that for him!
Lauren Ash
We enjoyed Lauren Ash on Superstore, and we are loving her on Instagram too! She recently posted this inspiring message: "People keep asking me what's my secret, what am I doing different? What's the plan I'm following? And to be clear, I don't owe anyone ANY explanation about my body, ever. Period," she wrote.
"But I did think this could be an opportunity to address some things that are important to me," she continued. "First of all, it makes me so sad that so many of you private message me talking about how much you hate your bodies. I wish all of you could see the beauty in yourselves. And understand that beauty is in no way determined by your size. Value is not determined by size. This life we have is so short, and we waste an incredible amount of time trying to change ourselves instead of just being where we are in any moment."
Now that's the kind of energy we want to follow!
Halsey
Singer and new mom Halsey has been refreshingly honest about what body positivity looks like during those exhausting postpartum days and months. After an appearance on Saturday Night Live, she revealed, "I do not want to feed the illusion that you're meant to feel and look great immediately postpartum. That is not my narrative currently.
"If you've been following me because you're also a parent and you dig what I'm doing, please know I'm in your corner. I will never have my pre-baby body back, no matter how it changes physically because I have now had a baby! And that has altered me forever — emotionally, spiritually, and physically. That change is permanent. And I don't want to go back!"
Nicole Byer
Nicole Byer is so funny on shows like Wipeout and Nailed It! but she's also unapologetically comfortable in her own skin. Even though she is great on Instagram, we highly suggest checking out her book, #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, for an instant dose of body confidence.
Jonathan Van Ness
Queer Eye star and all-around delight Jonathan Van Ness is another celebrity who is making sure the body positivity conversation isn't just limited to one kind of gender expression. He talked about the impact of male beauty standards, noting, "I think what really has changed the most is that I'm aware of the unrealistic beauty expectations that are forced down their throats, and that they always have been, and have narrower ideas of what beauty are. And really, it's realizing that this system doesn't fit me. It's not that I don't fit the system."
Rihanna
There are a lot of ways to lead the body positivity moment. Some celebs lead with inspiring words, and some celebs, such as Rihanna, lead by making sure their fashion lines are size-inclusive. The Barbadian beauty has been a force in this area, including having a whole array of body types in her runway shows and in the ads for her Savage by Fenty lingerie line.
Kelly Clarkson
It's impossible not to love Kelly Clarkson. She's responsible for so many of our favorite songs to sing along to in the car (no, we're not ashamed of putting on a car concert in the school drop-off line) — and she's a great body positive role model. Not only is she refreshingly honest about her feelings about exercise (not a fan) and the fact that, for her, thin doesn't equal happy, but she's also been clear that what makes her great has nothing to do with her weight.
We love that she recognizes that her superpower is her ability to "connect with people." "I'm really raw and real," she said. "It has nothing to do with my sex appeal or my look aesthetically. It has to do with me as a person."
Lizzo
There's no way we can talk about leaders in the body positivity space and leave out our favorite flute-playing, booty-shaking, self-love promoting icon Lizzo. Lizzo is a force of nature, and her music, videos, and concerts are all about all women feeling sexy and fierce. Plus, her songs are total bops, and we all need more great music in our lives.
Jameela Jamil
When it comes to body positivity, Jameela Jamil (who was so great on The Good Place) just might be the most vocal celebrity out there. Not only is she super blunt about the dangers of diet culture, but she's also not afraid to call out other celebrities (we see you, Kardashians) for shilling sham products such as diet teas and waist trainers. Sometimes body positivity means speaking truth to power, and Jameela is doing just that.
Mindy Kaling
One of the things we like about Mindy Kaling's approach to body positivity is that she recognizes that health and weight are two seperate things. In a recent issue of Shape, she had a refreshingly reasonable take on the subject.
"I would love to be the size I was when I was 32 or something, but I just refuse to beat myself up about it. I love to eat at restaurants, I love to eat home cooking, and I don't like restricting my diet. And now I'm like, as long as I'm getting enough nutrients and feeling like my heart and my lungs are getting exercise, I don't beat myself up about that."
Kumail Nanjiani
Actor Kumail Nanjiani went from kind of geeky stand-up comedian to super buff superhero for the Marvel movie The Eternals. He was candid about not only how hard it was to transform his body, but also about how strange and weird it was for his body to become a topic of press coverage and gossip. He even shared in an interview with Vulture that he started having feelings of body dysmorphia and began seeing a therapist to sort out those feelings.
We always appreciate a famous guy who is willing to show that being body positive can sometimes take some work.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is an all-time fave when it comes to celebrities who make us want to be stronger, more determined, and fully confident in our own skills. We also love that she has never been shy about loving herself.
As she noted in British Vogue, "I've never been a person that has been like, 'I want to be a different colour,' or 'I want my skin tone to be lighter.' I like who I am, I like how I look, and I love representing the beautiful dark women out there."
Melissa McCarthy
Comedian and mom to two girls, Melissa McCarthy is like a lot of us who are realizing that body positivity isn't just about feeling more comfortable in our own skin. It's also about being a good role model for our children. She explained it perfectly to Redbook in 2016, saying, "Give me your best punch in the face, and I'll take that punch, rather than have my kid feel bad about herself.
"There's an epidemic in our country of girls and women feeling bad about themselves based on what 0.5% of the human race looks like," she continued. "It starts very young. My message is that as long as everybody's healthy, enjoy and embrace whatever body type you have."
Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato has been on a real journey for the last few years, dealing with challenges related to addiction and mental health. Throughout it all, they've been focused on learning to love themselves, including entering recovery from an eating disorder. In a brave Instagram post, Demi got real, writing:
"I used to genuinely believe recovery from an eating disorder wasn't real. That everyone was faking or secretly relapsing behind closed doors. I'm so grateful that I can honestly say for the first time in my life — my dietitian looked at me and said, 'This is what eating disorder recovery looks like.' In honor of my gratitude for the place I'm in today, this was a lil shoot I did by myself in quarantine this summer when I wanted to celebrate my stretch marks instead of being ashamed of them. I started wearing actual glitter paint on my stretch marks to celebrate my body and all of its features (whether society views them as good or bad)."
Maren Morris
The bottom line of the body positivity movement is that our bodies are good and worthy — full stop. Maren Morris reminded us of that when she shared her thoughts on her own body after having a baby. She explained on Instagram, "I'm never saying I'm trying to get my body back again. No one took it, I didn't lose it like a set of keys. The pressure we put on mothers to snap back is insurmountable and deeply troublesome."
TRUTH.
