This past week Demi Lovato literally bared all for Vanity Fair, where she was photographed by Patrick Ecclesine. There were only three requirements for the shoot: no makeup, no clothes, and no retouching. All requirements were set my Lovato herself.
Today, these rules placed by Lovato might not seem like such a big deal. Posing nude isn't as scandalous with Kim Kardashian gracing the pages of Paper Magazine in their famous Break the Internet shoot; requesting photos to be unretouched is not new with Glamour Magazine's promise to limit the amount of retouching done on its pages; and the popularity of no make-up selfies makes the act seem not as brave anymore.
Taking into account Lovato's history of struggling with eating disorders and body image, this photoshoot was possibly one of the bravest things she has put herself through thus far and also was also a great way to promote body acceptance.
"In the past I suffered from eating disorders, and I basically went from hating every single inch of my body to working on myself and trying to figure out ways to love myself, love the skin that I’m in. I learned, after working very hard on my spirituality, my soul, and my body, I learned that you can get to a place where I love the skin I’m in. And I’m excited to share that with the world," says Lovato on the subject of her body.
On the subject of confidence, Lovato says it's about "letting go, being authentic, saying I don’t give a f*** and this is who I am. I want to show the side of me that’s real, that’s liberated, that’s free."
To me, this is amazing. Not only did she conquer her eating disorders and body image issues, she did it in a way where she came out of her situation even stronger, more beautiful, and confident than before. She has shown us that although we all go through tough times and hate our bodies at one point or another in our lives, we are ultimately the ones who can decide how we want to view ourselves.
Although I mentioned earlier that her rules might not seem groundbreaking for today's standards, the combination of being nude, make-up-free, and completely unretouched is extremely brave. She is always in the spotlight under criticism, but she was able to put that aside and do something that made her feel confident and beautiful. This in itself is a great lesson. Who cares what you do with your body? Just being comfortable with yourself is the best thing you can do.
Above all, you need to show the world how much you love you; own up to it. Confidence is an extremely valuable quality, and one that each woman posseses if she searches deep enough.
Check out the photoshoot and the video here.
