Lizzo Talks The ‘Commercialization’ Of Body Positivity And The ‘Right People’ Not ‘Benefitting’

Lizzo dove into a few deep issues in her Vogue cover story. She talked a bit about politics and encouraging her fans to get out and vote. In addition, Lizzo talked about a subject near to her heart: body positivity. The singer has regularly used her platform to cover topics that many consider taboo, including body positivity and inclusivity. The 32-year-old said she still feels that the term body positivity is not being utilized the way it should be. In fact, she believes it is being “commercialized.”

“You look at the hashtag ‘body positive,’ and you see smaller-framed girls, curvier girls. Lotta white girls and I feel no ways about that because inclusivity is what my message is always about. I’m glad that this conversation is being included in the mainstream narrative.”

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However, Lizzo described what she perceives as a real problem: the idea that the people the term is meant to support have somehow gotten lost in the shuffle.

“Girls with back fat, girls with bellies that hang, girls with thighs that aren’t separated, that overlap. Girls with stretch marks. You know, girls who are in the 18-plus club. They need to be benefiting from… the mainstream effect of body positivity now,” the “Good As Hell” singer said.

The “Truth Hurts” singer expressed that she feels that the mainstream acceptance of what the majority of people consider body positive has been adapted to fit the definition of whomever wants to claim it. She has focused on using a term that will standardize the fact that there are different shapes and sizes and said she would like to be referred to as “body-normative.”

Lizzo has frequently celebrated her body on social media and encouraged her fans to do the same, even if their activity is met with negativity. As NBC reported, celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels was famously chastised for saying Lizzo’s body should not “celebrated.” Lizzo has a simple solution for forcing people to accept that human beings can and will be different.

“We have to make people uncomfortable again.”

While Lizzo acknowledged that change is hard and will forever be uncomfortable, she is willing to be the public figure that takes the brunt of the hate if it could mean actual change can come from it. She shared with Rolling Stone in January that she is more than her physical self and she has achieved the success to demonstrate exactly that.