Ariana Grande is Your New Body-Positive Superhero
Ariana Grande is so small there are rumors that she has a bodyguard carry her around when she’s tired. At just five feet tall, the pint-sized pop star is so much bigger than her diminutive stature. The usually coy 21-year-old stands above others with her hands-in-the-air dance moves, powerful voice, and strong stage presence, but now her words are elevating the singer, too. Following a performance of “Bang Bang” with Nicki Minaj at the NBA All-Star game, the rapper posted a video to Instagram of the duo rhythmically booty-shaking together, but instead of racking up the likes, it was met with hateful comments about both of their bodies. Grande promptly shut the haters down.
"[People] are so ignorant sometimes. Stop trying to make people feel badly about their bodies. It’s okay to be different… to be curvy or to be thin. When did it become socially acceptable to comment on what you think is ‘wrong’ with other people’s bodies? We were having fun! Dancing on stage," she wrote. “‘What’s she shaking tho???’ I’m shaking my pretty, cute, petite ass next to Nicki’s pretty big booty. Both are f—-ing awesome. How about we respect people’s body boundaries and encourage each other to feel like a babe no matter how they are? That [would] be nice. So tired of watching everyone try to tear each other down.”
The historically guarded Grande surprised everyone with her well-said response. Her image is very carefully shaped and the media’s pegged her as Mariah Carey’s heir, but it turns out she’s also smart, articulate, compassionate, and a strong role model for young girls.
Grande didn’t just defend herself and Minaj, she spoke to the changing culture of body critiquing as it’s exacerbated by social media. Just as Katherine Webb publicly called attention to her shamers and shamed them back, Cindy Crawford’s husband shared a stunning image of her dispelling any questions as to whether she’s hot or not, and Amy Schumer tweeted out a naked pic of herself to quite the misogynist man attacking her, Grande’s not going down without a fight—just one more reason to love her.
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