Ariana Grande has been living her life in the public eye since she was a child. During a recent chat with YouTube creator Sally, the Wicked actress opened up about her experiences, particularly addressing how it feels to have strangers constantly scrutinizing and commenting on her physical appearance. In a moment of raw honesty, she shared her thoughts on this practice.
“There's a comfortability people have with commenting on that [my body] that I think is really dangerous. And I think it's dangerous for all parties involved,” she said, as her Wicked co-star, Cynthia Erivo, held the singer's hand and comforted her as she appeared on the verge of tears while answering a question about the struggle for women to live up to society's exacting, often unreasonable, beauty standards.
“I've been kind of doing this in front of the public and kind of been a specimen in a petri dish since I was 16 or 17, so I have heard it all,” Grande said. “I've heard every version of it… of what's wrong with me. And then you fix it, and then it's wrong for different reasons. But that's everything from – even just the simplest thing – your appearance, you know?”
The 31-year-old performer explained that shielding yourself from such commentary is challenging, regardless of where you encounter it. “Even if you go to Thanksgiving dinner, and someone's granny says, ‘Oh my God, you look skinnier! What happened?' or ‘You look heavier! What happened?'” she said. “That is something that's uncomfortable and horrible no matter where it's happening… and I think in today's society there's a comfortability that we shouldn't have, at all, commenting on other's looks, appearance, what they think is going on behind the scenes, or health, or how they present themselves.”
Speaking passionately, Grande described these assessments of women's appearances, bodies, and faces as “dangerous.” She expressed gratitude for having supportive people around her who help her “know and trust that I am beautiful… but I do know what the pressure of that noise feels like… I just don't invite it in anymore. It's not welcome. I have work to do. I have a life to live. I have friends to love on, I have so much love and it's not invited.”
She concluded by encouraging others to protect themselves, whether through removing problematic social media apps or blocking online harassers, stating “you keep yourself safe. Because no one has the right to say s–t!”
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