Camila Cabello has won praise online after opening up about her struggles with body image.
In a lengthy statement shared to Instagram on Saturday, the singer admitted she feels “super vulnerable” when she gets papped on the beach and when she reads comments about herself on the internet.
The 25-year-old wrote in a candid post: “Every time I’ve gone to this beach club in Miami I get papped – somehow when I check in paps know and get me in my bikini and every time I’ve felt super vulnerable and unprepared.”
“I’ve worn bikinis that were too small and paid no mind to how I looked, then saw pictures online and comments and been so upset.”
“I reminded myself when it impacted my self esteem that I was thinking the culture’s thoughts and not my own. A culture who has gotten so used to an image of what a ‘healthy’ woman’s body looks like that is completely not real for a lot of women.”
“Photoshop, restrictive eating, over exercising, and choosing angles that make our bodies look different than how they are in the moment and in their natural form, when we take a deep breath, when we eat a meal, when we allow waves to tussle us around.”
“I remind myself of this, listen to podcasts on intuitive eating, follow women who accept their cellulite, stretch marks, bellies, bloating, and weight fluctuations… and still, I’m a single woman in her 20s in the middle of a s*** ton of promo and I want to feel like I look ‘good.'”
Camila continued: “Today I got a new bikini, a whole f***in cute outfit, put lip gloss on, and didn’t eat anything too heavy before going in the OCEAN cause I knew it was gonna be basically a whole photoshoot.”
“I held my core so tight my abs hurt and didn’t breathe and barely smiled and was so self conscious of where the paps were the whole time i couldn’t let go and relax and do what we’re meant to do when we go out into nature. I tried to pretend they weren’t there but I couldn’t and I held my breath from my sun chair in the ocean.”
“I knew I looked ‘good’ in the pictures and thought I would feel accomplished, and yet I’ve never had a worse time at the beach. I felt the emptiness and sadness of our culture’s thoughts that became my thoughts.”
“I wanted to talk about this because we see pictures of women and praise them for looking good, for looking fit or ‘healthy’, but what is health if you are so fixated on what your body looks like that your mental health suffers and you can’t enjoy your life?”
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A host of Camila’s fans and friends took to the comment section to praise the singer on her candid post.
One follower commented: “Beautiful message. I really feel the world is shifting towards this direction with all of us just wanting to be real. I’m sorry you have to go through that!”
Another wrote: “As real as it gets. Thank you for sharing this with the world!! I’m so sorry this was your experience, but you being able to communicate it and your feelings in this way will help so many… a true queen 👑”
A third penned: “You’ve articulated so precisely what everyone has felt at some point or is feeling. Sending you so much love – you beautiful kind hearted human ❤️ I love you.”
