The Patriot Post® · The Weight of Oppression Is Heavy for Singer Lizzo
We are seeing plenty of overcorrections in our world today. Feminism turned from procuring women the right to vote to “women can be men”; arresting homosexuals for their proclivities morphed into overt gay orgies and sex parades; and anti-black racism has been exchanged for anti-white (and sometimes anti-Asian and anti-Jewish) racism.
Today’s example of overcorrection is centered on the body positivity movement — an uber-amelioration to the ‘90s-era promotion of heroin chic and bodies so thin they look skeletal.
Setting our scene is the cultural figure most prominent in this movement: pop singer Lizzo. She is a wealthy entertainer who is also infamous for being a purveyor of the pro-fat movement. At this past weekend’s MTV Video Music Awards, Lizzo won the “Video for Good” award for her song “About D*mn Time.” It’s about her own greater self-awareness and determination to not let critics’ voices get her down. “Your vote means everything to me,” Lizzo commented upon receiving the award. “It means everything to making a change in this country. When you’re voting for your favorite artist, vote to change some of these laws that are oppressing us.”
It was a throwaway comment meant more as a show of leftist virtue than actual substance, but still, it shows an ironic lack of self-awareness that she claims to have achieved. As a multimillionaire, moralizing to the masses about her own “oppression” is laughable. More importantly, since she does not specify exactly how she is oppressed, it is up to the audience to interpret what she means.
Clearly, Lizzo isn’t oppressed as a successful black artist, but perhaps she is oppressed by the inappropriately named “body positivity” movement. This is a more reasonable claim. As a larger woman who is constantly in the celebrity headlines for berating people who don’t like her unhealthy portrayal of feminine beauty, she is suffering a sort of oppression. She is trying to convince the world that being extremely overweight is beautiful. Her supporters in the movement cheer her on, but the second she tries to eat healthier, they scream, rant, and yell that she is selling out. She is trapped by her own gluttonous folly as a result.
Lizzo is not the only one to be trapped in this cycle. Back in May, Sports Illustrated ran a cover with Yumi Nu, a plus-sized model, and garnered a lot of positive press as a result. This particular instance got Dr. Jordan Peterson — a clinical psychologist and former professor at the University of Toronto — into trouble for saying that Yumi Nu’s cover was not beautiful.
Lizzo has also been criticized for flaunting her body. Most recently, comedian Aries Spears pointed out that though Lizzo had a beautiful face and confidence, no one is speaking truth to her. He said: “Black girl, we love your confidence, boo boo, but this ain’t it. This ain’t it. That’s the real love! Y'all jump on me for making jokes, but y'all won’t be f***ing real and go, ‘Sister, put the eclair down. This ain’t it. It’s treadmill time.’”
The body positivity movement — though not as talked about as the feminist, gender identity, or critical race theory movements — is yet another facet in the struggle for identity in America. It is an overcorrection to objectifying women through a standard of beauty that did create a toxic diet culture. It removes bodyweight standards and healthy living entirely. It also shows a particularly grotesque push toward the ugly and obscene that is a defining feature of the culture at the moment.
However, there is a kernel of truth in the body positivity movement — no two bodies are the same. And as columnist Laura Hollis has pointed out, standards of beauty have changed over the centuries. Using health as the standard (i.e., a body free of diabetes, heart problems, and other lifestyle-induced diseases) seems to be a reasonable proposition. It also seems to be the most reasonable middle ground between the starvation advocates and the gluttons (though both are gluttons for punishment).
The middle ground also speaks to the hunger that the younger generation has for authenticity. Lizzo’s “confidence” feels like a put-on. She’s protesting too much. Her denial of the unhealthy state of her physique is abject denial of reality.
Thoughtful people can hardly take her seriously, but there are plenty of others who will blindly take her vague words and seemingly confident actions as gospel.