Miley Cyrus is in the news once again. This time, she’s giving us an inside look into what really went on during her Hannah Montana days.
In her Marie Claire September spread, Miley opened up about how being on the popular Disney Channel show that launched her career, but also led to her anxiety issues and body dysmorphia.
"From the time I was 11, it was, 'You're a pop star! That means you have to be blonde, and you have to have long hair, and you have to put on some glittery tight thing.' Meanwhile, I'm this fragile little girl playing a 16-year-old in a wig and a ton of makeup. It was like 'Toddlers & Tiaras.' I had fucking flippers."
"I was told for so long what a girl is supposed to be from being on that show”, Miley goes on to say in the article. “I was made to look like someone that I wasn't, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long, and then when I wasn't on that show, it was like, who the fuck am I?"
For those who are unfamiliar, body dysmorphia (or body dysmorphic disorder) is a body-image disorder characterized by persistent and intrusive preoccupations with an imagined or slight defect in one's appearance. While most, if not all of us have something that we don’t like about ourselves, people suffering from BDD have trouble focusing on anything but those flaws, and go through extreme or dangerous lengths to change them.
Hearing Miley speak up about these issues may have shocked the world, but I have a hard time believing that anyone was truly surprised. I mean, the reality that many Disney Channel stars go through intense body image issues has been extremely real for a long time now. There is an intense pressure to be the role model to millions of kids around the world, which causes some stars to channel that pressure into destructive behaviors.
Let us not forget in 2010, when Demi Lovato went from the very popular "Camp Rock 2" tour to rehab, because of problems with drinking and bulimia. Or even more recently in 2014, when Hilary Duff revealed in her Health Magazine spread that she had dangerous eating habits when she was a teenager.
“When I was 17, I weighed, like, 98 pounds. I was totally obsessed with everything I put in my mouth,” Duff explains. “I was way too skinny. Not cute. And my body wasn't that healthy—my hands would cramp up a lot because I wasn't getting the nutrition I needed. That constant pressure of wanting something different than I had? I regret that. I feel like there was way too much time spent thinking about that."
Body image issues affect everyone. It is naïve of society to expect celebrities to be immune to this fact. Everyone’s body is different, everyone’s body is beautiful. However it is hard to see that beauty, when people in your life are telling you that someone else out there is more beautiful. This is a problem that goes beyond the call for our society to change its beauty standards. Sure it is important to change the rules of the game, but it is also important that we focus on changing our attitudes about ourselves.
Self-love is a beautiful thing, once you let it in. However, as someone who has struggled with body confidence issues for a majority of her life, I can understand that it is also not an easy thing. It is better to love who we are right now, then to hurt ourselves trying to change into someone else. But we owe it to ourselves to see the radiance in every imperfection, we have to hold ourselves in the highest regard.
Choose to love yourself, for all of your flaws and imperfections. You are beautiful, and it only matters that you believe that. Once you do, you'll be surprised how much brighter the world can be. Real talk.
