Barbie Ferreira is frustrated with the current conversations around the ‘body positivity’ movement.
via People:
Much like her character on Euphoria, the model and actress, 25, is questioning the point of the body positivity movement and if it’s possible to find true happiness with your body. It’s all in line with what her character Kat experiences on the hit HBO show, where in the second season, she has a meltdown about all the pressure to love your body.
“I feel like I had a lot of things come up emotionally because of the pandemic, and putting some of that into this season was therapeutic for me,” Ferreira told WhoWhatWear in a new interview. “I hope other people [watching] can also feel the same way and release the pressure of being perfect and happy all the time. Because that just doesn’t exist.”
And Ferreira, who had modeled for years before joining the cast of the high school drama, thinks the greater acceptance of bigger bodies that started as she first came up in the industry has since reverted back.
“I think bigger bodies are not as ‘trendy’ as they used to be, which is really sad to me. But it’s more of a conversation of the fact that we all struggle with self-love, and I don’t think any young person has really figured it out yet,” she said.
One of the ways Ferreira has seen this happen is with people applauding her for wearing clothes that are typically worn on thinner bodies, thinking that doing so is supporting the body positivity movement.
“It’s not radical for me to be wearing a crop top,” she said. “[Comments like those are] just backhanded compliments. I’ve been doing this since I was 16. I’m 25.”
Ferreira also finds that there’s more pressure on her to love her body because of her size.
“It’s so funny that people just assume that,” she said. “What — did I say that? I never said that. You guys just say that. You posted that on me.”
What Ferreira does think would help more people love themselves, is if clothing companies were more size-inclusive.
“I have all the resources in the world to get something that fits, and it’s still extremely difficult,” she said. “So I feel for everyone who’s still trying to find things that fit them.”
“I could do a seminar on this,” she continued. “I always think about the fact that if these clothes came in my size, I would be out here doing even more.”
Even when trying to be helpful, the internet can be a toxic place.
