In recent news, the media has been buzzing about Selena Gomez being photographed in a bikini for the first time since her kidney transplant.

While Selena looked happy and healthy, despite post-op complications, comments about her photos were far from positive. Negative comments about her weight took away from the intention of inspiration through these photographs.

Lupus, and its host of symptoms, makes it a potentially debilitating disease. Instead of focusing on how amazing Selena was doing because of the transplant, and focusing on how drastically her health had improved, people chose to frame her body in a negative light.

For one, Selena Gomez is stunning. I know I am not alone when I say her spirit and beauty absolutely shine through in every photo and interview. She is a knockout at any size or shape. Period.

Secondly, Selena is 25 and has been under public scrutiny since she was a child. She has had to deal with complex health conditions all while surviving under the shrewd, and often critical, public eye. She has thrived in true adversity and the last thing we should do is criticize her because she doesn’t adhere to the unrealistic expectations of beauty our society has placed on women.

Why not be proud of her accomplishments? Why not celebrate the fact that she made it through to the proverbial end of the tunnel?

We are in a current environment of women empowerment and supporting women defining themselves, rather than letting society define them and break them down. Negative remarks about anyone’s body only represent a step backward in this fight to enact true change in society.

Selena’s response to such demeaning criticisms only serves to strengthen her character and turn our attention to what should have been the conversation surrounding her photographs: a message on health and empowerment.

Selena’s promotion of self-love and rewriting the script on society’s expectations of women is the message that women of all ages should be seeing on their newsfeeds.

As people, we are ALL self-conscious and critical of our bodies. We ALL have aspects of ourselves that we wish we could change. We ALL get frustrated or disheartened with living in our own skin.

Without needing anyone to say anything to us, we scrutinize ourselves.

So, why impart that unnecessary scrutiny on someone else? Why knock someone down rather than build them up?

We often forget that our bodies are beautiful. They are capable of absolutely astounding feats. Day in and day out, our bodies get us through the day despite stress or lack of sleep.

We should all be proud of the crazy awesome things our bodies do and support anyone for showcasing their pride in living in their own skin.

Selena Gomez is a vibrant role model, and her message surrounding these photographs is one of inspiration, authenticity, and empowerment. It is a message we could all benefit from internalizing and promoting in our own lives.