Here’s the thing women get wrong about cellulite—the majority of us have it. In fact, close to 90 percent of women have cellulite. That’s how common it is. But despite those high numbers, people still seem to get a kick out of making women feel bad about having cellulite—especially celebs. Mexican actress Eiza González was recently criticized for showing off cellulite while vacationing with new boyfriend, Josh Duhamel and it was NOT okay!
Gonzalez who showed off her lean and toned figure in a super cute bikini—looked amazing. But apparently not good enough for paparazzi, who took snaps of her back side and zoomed in on the cellulite on her thighs and butt. The internet went nuts but Eiza quickly fired back on both Twitter and Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk07hN1nUwy/?taken-by=latinacoolmag
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkvu-qLBnlR/?tagged=eizagonzalez
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkwIh2tlXP5/?tagged=eizagonzalez
She went in on Twitter and got real about how talking about her body while also invading her privacy, felt like such a physical violation. She posted it again in her InstaStories.
https://twitter.com/eizamusica/status/1014622289600524291
“See how they use my body while also invading my privacy, feels like a physical violation,” see wrote. “What a shame that we live in a society that believes they can use a woman’s body for entertainment of yellow notes and satisfy their insecurities. I feel secure despite your prejudices. And even if I had cellulite or not, no one has the right to bully or embarrass someone out of absolutely nothing. Thank God they do it to someone like me who feels full. How many people do not live by mocking and attacking others and causing traumas to young girls and boys. What message and example are we sending to the youth with their prejudices and deductions of others. I wish them inner peace and what saddens me the most is that in my country, my people, are always the ones who attack me the most. We will never change Mexico.”
Eiza’s message wasn’t just powerful but also very true. When are we as a society going to stop taking pleasure in criticizing women’s bodies and appearance? When are we going to stop overemphasizing our physical flaws and instead praise our inner beauty? And then we wonder why so many of us still have so many hangups about our bodies or our cellulite. It’s because society doesn’t give us the space to just love and accept them.
I personally admire Eiza for not only speaking out about this but also not allowing this to impact her own self image. She even shared a video a few hours later of her posing in a bikini with the caption: “Feel comfortable in your own skin. No one can take that away from you.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkv7bwxgpLL/?hl=en&taken-by=eizagonzalez
As someone who recently started developing cellulite on my thighs, I know how it feels to feel self-conscious whenever I put on a pair of shorts—wishing my thighs were smoother and cellulite-free. I also know that if someone actually pointed them out to me, I’d feel even worse. Seeing someone rise above the BS and criticism is beyond inspiring to me. I do wish though, that Eiza would have just owned that she has cellulite. Kim Kardashian experienced a very similar criticism last year and spoke about the dangers of criticizing women’s bodies but denied that she actually had cellulite and instead accused paparazzi of photoshopping her butt and thighs to look worse. I think if more and more celebs or public figures addressed these body shaming issues while also owning what society would consider “flaws,” the message would be that much more empowering. Okay, I have cellulite—and what?
Last year, actress Hilary Duff shut down body shamers by posting a beautiful picture of herself on the beach with her son and opening up about how she owns and loves her body—despite having cellulite. “Ladies let’s be proud of what we’ve got and stop wasting precious time in the day wishing we were different, better and unflawed,” she wrote and I couldn’t agree more.
According to a 2015 survey conducted by Dove, women are 50 percent more likely to say something negative, rather than positive about themselves or their bodies. In fact, the study found that social media has only lead to a rise in low self-esteem and poor body image in women. The study found that 82 percent of women feel that the beauty standards that are praised or set by social media are “unrealistic.” It’s time we changed this, no?
There will always be body shamers and haters out there but their criticisms mean nothing if we can come to a place where we own, accept and genuinely love our bodies despite what society tries to pressure us to believe is beautiful. I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy, but Eiza’s situation has given me a little more strength to leave the house in shorts and care a little bit less about my cellulite. Because after all, we are so much more than just our appearance.
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