It is often said that ‘change is the only constant’. However, when people, especially public figures make the slightest of change in their choice of living, dressing, career or any aspect of life, the public goes bonkers. Same happened recently when the American singer Billie Eilish tank top picture went viral.
The 18-year-old Billie Eilish has been known for her loose-fitted dressing style. She claimed that she maintained that style because she did not want people to sexualize her body. Therefore, when a picture of her in a spaghetti-strap tank top and shorts went viral on social media platforms, the reaction was huge.
Eilish was going around Los Angeles carrying out personal errands on a hot summer day when her picture was clicked by a paparazzi.
She did not even pose for a photograph knowingly that she would receive too much hatred for her dress.
Some people criticized her picture because of her body size while others claimed that they had lost the respect they had for her.
All this, merely because she chose what she wanted to wear!
The reaction to Billie Eilish tank top picture was so large-scale that she decided to respond to the outrage on her Instagram. She used the blogger Chizi Duru’s TikTok to support her message. In that message, Duru talked against body shaming, telling people to start normalizing real bodies.
Along with that video, Eilish then also purposely posted a picture of her in a tank top with the caption “Do you really wanna go back in time?”
While talking to different media outlets, Eilish explained her struggle against body shaming:
“It makes me mad. I have to wear a big shirt for you not to feel uncomfortable about my boobs!”
She said that being a woman, it was very normal for her to be born with a certain anatomy, but she had been criticized and slut-shamed so many times during the course of her life that she decided to cover up her body in baggy clothes. She also claimed that people wouldn’t be able to comment on it, if they didn’t get to see it. However, she said that she has the right to change her dressing style as and when she likes. Therefore, wearing a tank top – in which she felt comfortable – wasn’t a big deal.
Billie Eilish also responded to the haters and the public at large via a YouTube video titled ‘Not My Responsibility’.
The video starts with the singer being portrayed in her usual, loose-fitted attire but slowly the layers of clothing start falling off, one by one till she can be seen in a black tank top. The last scene then shows her body immersed entirely in a pool of dark water, probably depicting that people would attack her no matter what she wore.
In the video, Eilish tries to make her point by explaining that if she dresses how she is comfortable, she isn’t thought of as attractive but if she wears something revealing, she is again judged in a negative way. She spoke against being ridiculed for her body size as well.
This video gives the message to haters of Billie Eilish tank top picture that she has the choice to wear what she wants and what they think or perceive about her, is not her responsibility.
This 4-minute-long video has received approximately 32 million views.
It is sad that people do not realize how much their negative comments can affect a person’s life. In one of her interviews, Billie Eilish shared that ever since she was a child, she has been insecure about her plus-sized body. She even went to extreme measures like cutting and starving herself to lose weight. In fact, at the age of 12 she started taking weight-reduction pills because someone told her they would help her achieve the desired figure.
She shared that she was scared of body shaming and that was the very reason she initially started wearing baggy clothes, especially after becoming a public figure.
However, given the fact that she is only 18, it is very normal for her to want to dress attractively like other females.
During one of her interviews, Eilish said these heart-breaking words:
“…………I thought that I would be the only one dealing with my hatred for my body, but I guess the internet also hates my body. So that’s great.”
We are glad that before this entire episode took place, the young Grammy Award winner had overcome her insecurities and understood the importance of a happy, healthy, rather than attractive life. Therefore, instead of being broken by the entire drama revolving around Billie Eilish tank top picture, she turned it into a positive message for the public; explaining to them that different body sizes and different choices of clothing are all acceptable. We really commend Billie Eilish for such a bold and graceful response.