By Jessica Wedemeyer
7:02am PDT, Aug 2, 2021
Join Wonderwall.com as we take a look at some of the celebrities who are known for empowering body positivity… Academy Award nominee Jonah Hill took to Instagram in August 2021 to show fans his new "Body Love" tattoo — a play on the famed "Body Glove" logo. Earlier in the year, in February 2021, Jonah took to Instagram to address shirtless photos of himself at the beach that surfaced online — and to slam the way he's been body-shamed by the tabloid media over the years. "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. So the idea that the media tries to play me by stalking me while surfing and printing photos like this and it can't phase me anymore is dope. I'm 37 and finally love and accept myself. This isn't a 'good for me' post. And it's definitely not a 'feel bad for me post.' It's for the kids who don't take their shirt off at the pool. Have fun. You're wonderful and awesome and perfect. All my love," he captioned a screengrab of a tabloid report about his day of fun in the sun.
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When it comes to body positivity, few voices have more impact than Lizzo's. The gorgeous Grammy-winning musician — who took to Instagram to admire herself in this outfit in May 2021 before stepping out with friends to grab dinner in West Hollywood — frequently speaks out on social media about the importance of the movement, which aims to "end harassment and shame" and "dismantle a system that oppresses fat people," as she said in an April 2021 TikTok video. Two months earlier, Lizzo dished on falling in love with her body, captioning a video of herself rocking underwear in front of a mirror, "I started talking to my belly this year. Blowing her kisses and showering her with praises. I used to want to cut my stomach off I hated it so much. But it's literally ME. I am learning to radically love every part of myself. Even if it means talking to myself every morning. This is your sign to love on yourself today!" In the clip, she says to herself, "I love you so much. Thank you so much for keeping me happy, for keeping me alive. Thank you. I'm going to continue to listen to you. You deserve all the space in the world to breathe, expand and contract, and give me life. I love you."
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Ashley Graham frequently uses her platform to champion body positivity — especially for new moms. The model, who became a first-time mom in January 2020, has spoken out in favor of normalizing everything from cellulite and stretch marks to postpartum baby hairs and the "messy parts" of "recovery and healing" after childbirth. (Check out her Instagram post about the joys of disposable underwear here!) In January 2021, she took to Instagram to share a slideshow of photos of women celebrating their perfectly imperfect bodies. "It's not always easy to love every inch of your body. I've learned it's a daily practice, not just a finish line," she wrote in the caption. Earlier that month, she shared a video of herself vamping sans clothing. In the caption, she referenced Megan Thee Stallion's single "Body," writing, "I love me, not everyday, but most! Anyways…. Body-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody."
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Kelly Clarkson has always spoken out against the pressures to look a certain way in Hollywood. "The media has always been obsessed with [my size]. And I have felt conflicted over the years. Do you address it? Do you talk about it? Because then you just add to the noise," she told Mail Online in 2017. "But people like me [need] to talk about it, so I don't really mind carrying that flag. I love that people come up to me and say, 'Because you are comfortable in your skin, you have made me more comfortable in mine.' That's the best compliment ever."
In early 2020, Drew Barrymore took to Instagram to address her ever-changing body, which she described as a "beautiful ride." The mother of two shared side-by-side photos of herself during and after pregnancy, writing in the caption, "I go up and I go down. The rollercoaster of my body is a challenging, but beautiful ride. I made two kids. The single most important purpose for me being on this planet is for them! It is a true miracle I was able to have these two girls. So whatever the aftermath on my body, well bring it on! That said, there have been times I have stood in my closet and just cried. Hated getting dressed. Didn't feel good! It takes so much for me to look decent. I have to eat just right and Work my [butt] off! I cannot fight the fact that I have the propensity to be the Pillsbury dough boy! (Now all I can think about is crescent rolls) So DON'T Be fooled by what you see when people are thin right after baby. Don't compare yourself to the magazines and the red carpets. If I looked decent on anything I have done since I had my two kids, I have clawed my way there. You can too! However, it is hard to sustain and can take a lot of the joy out of life with food. But not anymore. NOW I have found that elusive B called BALANCE. 45! It only took 45 years to find myself. Right where I am supposed to be. And it's not perfect. But it's me. And most importantly, I want to share it with you."
In the summer of 2019, Mindy Kaling took to Instagram to share photos and a video of herself rocking two-piece swimsuits. In the process, she encouraged her followers to embrace their beach bods of all shapes and sizes, writing in the caption, "[I don't know] who needs to hear this but… WEAR A BIKINI IF YOU WANT TO WEAR A BIKINI. You don't have to be a size 0." In the video, she added that she "was always really shy" about her body until she visited her best friend in Hawaii, where "everybody wears bikinis" and "it does not matter what your body type is." That's a message we can get behind regardless of the location!
In April 2021, actress Hayley Hasselhoff, who starred on the 2010 dramedy "Huge," became the first "curve" model to appear on the cover of the German edition of Playboy magazine. "I am deeply humbled and honoured to be the first ever curve model on a European cover of PLAYBOY," she wrote on Instagram. "I am overcome with emotion around what this cover signifies for inclusivity and its greater purpose towards female empowerment. I wanted to use this platform to express that you have the power to love your body without hesitation because of societies' standards of beauty. … My relationship with my body has always stemmed from my relationship with my mental wellbeing. With May being Mental Health Awareness month, I feel empowered to be able to wake up and know that I get to live unapologetically myself. I hope to inspire women to face their fears of the unknown and to lead a life of purpose in which your body does not define you. If there is one thing I would tell my younger self it would be that you are worthy just as you are. Now, more than ever, we should be grounded in the exploration of self and feel encouraged to celebrate ourselves in ways that feel most authentic. I can only hope this cover will allow women to know that they are loved, valued and desired just as they are – right here, right now." Hayley's parents are actor David Hasselhoff and his ex-wife, Pamela Bach.
During an interview with Health magazine that debuted online in April 2021, Christina Aguilera said that after decades in the limelight, she's finally learned to love and accept her body. "I think we all have our good days and our bad days in how we feel about ourselves," she said. "I have a hard time looking at the early pictures of myself because I remember feeling so insecure. I would never want to relive my 20s — you're so in your own head and finding your confidence. As you age, you stop comparing yourself to other people and start appreciating your own body and owning it." The mother of two, who turned 40 a few months before the interview, also shared how she's teaching her daughter about feeling secure in her own form: "I am really careful if my daughter is there when I am doing photo shoots. I want to make sure that when she sees Mommy in hair and makeup that she realizes that's not what's important," she said.
On April 2, 2021 — a little more than a year after she welcomed her first child, son Hayes — Maren Morris took to Instagram to slam "snap-back" culture — the pressure society puts on women to get back their pre-baby bods immediately after giving birth. "[I] am never saying '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. You are and always were a f****** bada**. And yeah, I'm proud," the singer captioned a slideshow including a photo of herself sitting in bed in her underwear and a shot of herself working out.
In March 2018, Jameela Jamil launched I Weigh, a digital community that's campaigned to limit "diet & detox products being shown to minors" on social media. During the 2019 #BlogHer Health conference, the actress explained why the mission is so important to her: "I don't want to worry about stretch marks or cellulite or time or gravity showing on my face and my body. These things are deliberately there … to distract us, to give us something else to think about so that we're not thinking about growing our businesses and our families and our lives and our hearts and our minds," she said, according to HuffPost. "It's so aggressive how pervasive it is and how it's everywhere. It's all around us. We're constantly being shamed. It takes someone and something aggressive to tear that down."
