Billie Eilish Confronts Body Image and Style Criticisms On First Night of World Tour
Watch the singer’s video response, shown at her Miami concert.
Billie Eilish kicked off her Where Do We Go world tour with a bang, bravely confronting criticism of her personal style and assumptions drawn from it with a video interlude that premiered at the singer’s opening concert in Miami.
Eilish, whose instantly recognizable style consists mainly of oversized streetwear, hasn’t previously shied away from addressing the public’s problematic responses to her figure-obscuring outfits. In her interview for the March issue of Vogue, the singer explained her feelings.
The positive comments about how I dress have this slut-shaming element. Like, ‘I am so glad that you’re dressing like a boy, so other girls can dress like boys, so that they aren’t sluts.’ That’s basically what it sounds like to me. And I can’t overstate how strongly I do not appreciate that, at all.
Eilish’s latest response expands on her thoughts. The clip, which fans livestreamed and posted on social media during her concert on March 9, shows Eilish removing her shirt while submerging herself into a pool of dark water. “I feel you watching always. And nothing I do goes unseen,” she says in a voiceover. “If I wear more, if I wear less, who decides what that makes me? What that means?” she continues.
Watch Eilish’s statement on her style and body image below. Scroll down for a full transcript.
empowering pic.twitter.com/IBOl9LF0rU
— MARIA & DASHIA DAY (@ILOMIL0S) March 10, 2020
Do you really know me?
You have opinions about my opinions, about my music, about my clothes, about my body.
Some people hate what I wear, some people praise it. Some people use it to shame others, some people use it to shame me.
But I feel you watching … always. And nothing I do goes unseen.
So while I feel your stares, your disapproval or your sighs of relief, if I lived by them, I’d never be able to move.
Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller?
Would you like me to be quiet?
Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest? Am I my stomach? My hips?
The body I was born with, is it not what you wanted?
If what I wear is comfortable, I am not a woman. If I shed the layers, I am a slut.
Though you’ve never seen my body, you still judge it and judge me for it. Why?
You make assumptions about people based on their size. We decide who they are. We decide what they’re worth.
If I wear more, if I wear less, who decides what that makes me? What that means?
Is my value based only on your perception?
Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?
