Lizzo says she 'didn't ask' for body-positive label: 'It was put on me because of the way that I look'
Lizzo is speaking out about her role in the body-positivity movement, sharing that she never claimed she was an advocate for plus-size women.
"It was put on me because of the way that I look just like with everyone else, you get people who prejudge you based off of how you look. And I put myself out there, I put myself on a pedestal, I amplified myself. And I think that that immediately was seen as political," she said while on SiriusXM's The Heat. "So I've had all these terms thrown at me and, you know, superimposed onto me, body-positive activist, self-love, guru, all of these things. And I didn't ask for them."
The singer and songwriter has opened up about her thoughts on body positivity in the past, saying that it's been "commercialized" by people whom the movement wasn't created for. She's also preached the idea of being "body normative" in an effort to "normalize" her body and bring it outside the center of attention.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she told Essence magazine referring to conversations about her body.
In her latest interview, however, she clarified that the terms that she's been described by aren't something that she's ashamed of. In fact, she's learned to take them on.
"I definitely embraced them because they're good things. It's like, why wouldn't I wanna be body positive? I don't wanna be body negative. Why wouldn't I wanna be a self-love guru? I don't wanna be a self-hate guru," she said. "So, fortunately, these are just signs that I'm on the right path and doing the right thing and that I'm a good person. And I resonate with that and I fully embrace that."
Another sign proving that Lizzo is on the right track was the launch of her new shapewear line Yitty, which she hopes will revolutionize the category. The idea is one that the 33-year-old conceptualized years ago but found difficulty executing — namely because she couldn't find the proper partner.
"This shapewear line took five years. And so that was before Kim's line," she told SiriusXM's The Morning Mash Up of Kim Kardashian's SKIMS. "I was excited when it dropped because I was like, 'That's confirmation that I was right, you guys.' I was taking so many meetings with companies and they did not believe in my vision of shapewear. They were like, 'Well, nobody's really doing shapewear. So you wanna do lingerie or…' and I'm like, 'No guys, listen. Shapewear is the future. And we need to revolutionize it.' And Fabletics believed in me."
The line, which was named after a nickname given to the singer by her late aunt, launched on Tuesday and includes numerous styles ranging from sizes 6X to XS. Lizzo hopes that it addresses a gap in the market for plus-size underwear and shapewear.
"Before [developing Yitty] I wasn't wearing anything," she said. "I stopped wearing bras. I stopped wearing panties for a while because I rebelled against girdles and shapewear and corsets and stuff. And I had one bra that I love that I wore out so bad that it was ripped, but the design was so amazing. And I couldn't find it anywhere else in that size or style."
Now, with this latest launch alongside the release of new music and a new show, Lizzo is creating widespread representation for plus-size women.
"This is really my season because all of the things that I have been working on and developing for the last three to five years are finally coming to fruition and I can talk about it and it's in the world," she said. "So yeah, I'm about to be everywhere. Y'all about to be sick of me."
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