If you’re Selena Gomez, every haircut and vacation day is tracked in tabloids and on social media. For better or worse, it’s something that comes with global super-stardom (and an Instagram following that exceeds the entire population of Japan). But when the steady stream of Selena updates come with a nasty side with body shaming? Well, that’s when our girl straight-up shuts it down.
Such was the case this week, after paparazzi published shots of Gomez hanging out on a yacht on Australian waters with friends — a totally innocuous way to spend a sunny day in Sydney, but something that sparked all kinds of commentary about her body on social media.
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Just hours after the flurry of inappropriate comments started to circulate the internet, Gomez took a stand in an Instagram post that seems to speak directly to body shamers. The star posted another version of the day’s events, a much more intimate look at her life than the invasive paparazzi shots zoomed in on her kidney-transplant scar: a vintage-filtered video of her friends on a boat, smiling, snuggling, and basking in the sun with avocado snacks on standby.
Her accompanying comment spoke directly to the shamers: "The beauty myth- an obsession with physical perfection that traps modern woman in an endless cycle of hopelessness, self consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society’s impossible definition of flawless beauty. I chose to take care of myself because I want to, not to prove anything to anyone,” she wrote. "Wind in her sails."
This isn’t the first time Selena has used her platform to respond to bullying. Nor is it the first time Gomez has been the brunt of online body shaming — and it’s likely not going to be the last. But each time people are compelled to throw impossible beauty standards in her face, Selena has a hell of an arsenal with which to fight back: a strong sense of self and an astounding 134 million followers on Instagram with whom she can set things straight. And to that we say: Slay, Selena, slay.