Demi Lovato has been through a lot – self-harming, a serious struggle with bulimia, rehab, having to date a Jonas Brother… you get the picture. While she’s doing a lot better now (despite breaking her foot on a shiny floor), she’s still pretty pissed off that people in Hollywood don’t talk all that much about the pressures and fame and own up to their own struggles with body image, because if they had, she might not have had to deal with it herself.
From Cosmo On Campus (via DigitalSpy):
“I was about 12 or 13 when I developed my eating disorder, and at that time nobody in the public eye talked about their body issues. I feel that if someone had admitted they had a problem, then I wouldn’t have gone down that route myself.
“That’s my goal in talking about my problems. I want to be the person for other girls that I needed to admire when I was looking for help and strength. It’s okay to love your body the way it is and it’s okay to reach out for help if you have drug and alcohol problems, or if you’re self-harming or being bullied.”
Good for her, in one sense, for wanting to help young girls who look up to her and hopefully help them avoid some of the tough experiences she herself had, but in another sense, what she did in admitting her troubles was brave and could have theoretically ruined her career. It’s no wonder that the myriad (and yes, I think they are that plentiful in numbers) of female stars who struggle with eating disorders, drug abuse, etc. are reluctant to share them – the pain, embarrassment and potential to compromise their spot in the industry are not very inviting, to say the least. It’s the media’s standards that need to change. The less girls feel that they have to fit into a certain bracket to be “perfect”, the less they’ll resort to harmful and dangerous methods in an attempt to achieve it, which will trickle down to “regular” girls, as well.
Of course, I’m probably living in a dream world and won’t hold my breath for that, but maybe one day…
I hadn’t even heard of this girl until her problems.
I’m actually still unclear why she is famous.
“Of course, I’m probably living in a dream world and won’t hold my breath for that, but maybe one day…”
Well you can have a direct impact on that by what you post on this site. Don’t do body shaming stories and focus on gossip that isn’t tied to a weight gain or loss. You really could actually make an impact, even if it is only on one site. It takes one to start for others to follow, right?
+1
It may be an unpopular stance, but the publicly commenting on one’s eating disorders seems to be the new “I’m bisexual”. (Remember when that was the big thing in celebrity news?) In recent history, I’ve heard Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, Lucy Hale, Katie Couric, Portia De Rossi, and more all with their stories about overcoming eating disorders to the applause of all the media. Yeah, it’s great we’re talking about it. I just can’t help thinking it has less with “helping others” and more with “cheap postive publicity”.
“I feel that if someone had admitted they had a problem, then I wouldn’t have gone down that route myself.”
That’s so stupid. There have been dozens of actors and models come out over the years about having eating disorders. There are movies about it, “special episodes” on popular tv shows about it, etc. It’s not a dirty little secret anymore. And implying that knowing about aother’s experience would have prevented her own eating disorder is a veiled way of blaming others for her problem. Knowing someone hates their own body won’t magically make you love your own. It may have made her more comfortable talking about it and getting help earlier, but even still – take responsibility for your own actions.
I agree with bonnakins. I’m sure she wants to help others who have eating disorders by sharing her story, but she’s certainly self-serving about it. Don’t claim to be selflessly helping others while simultaneously patting yourself on the back for doing so.
Thank you I was thinking the exact same thing while I was reading her .. Boo Hoo If only there were other as couragous as me I could have avoided this speech
I’m gonna call b.s. on this one. While it is great that she shared her story/struggle, and it will help encourage other girls to get HELP, it will not prevent eating disorders. I struggled with bulimia, and I was inspired by shows I had seen on television about eating disorders. The shows may have be showing the damage it does to the body, but 11 year old me, going through puberty and struggling with body image issues, saw that these girls were THIN, and that’s what I wanted to be, and convinced myself that I wasn’t going to be like them, and the bad things wouldn’t happen. An article in a christian girls magazine called “Brio” about a bulemic girl who abused laxatives inspired me to abuse laxatives. Thankfully, yes, they also showed me how to get help, but my point is, it didn’t keep me from struggling.