Cellulite. Stretch marks. Body hair. These are just a few things that women have that are deemed unacceptable in most of Western culture. We’ve discussed the battle against cellulite and the battle for body positivity, but it is a tough war. The cards are stacked against us, so we need all the voices we can get. One powerful emerging voice is Jameela Jamil, actress on the Good Place who plays Tahani al-Jamil. (Super side note: The Good Place is a freaking fantastic show. Watch it).
Before she got her amazing role in The Good Place, Jamil had already created a movement called I Weigh (@i_weigh). The movement encourages people to separate themselves from just a number (what you weigh) and instead tell the world what you contribute. It’s an inspirational, heartfelt program and I encourage you to check it out. Besides this fantastic movement, Jamil has gone full-force attack mode at the body-shaming, magic-pill movements and celebrities. She will trash detoxes all day long with hilarious montages of pretending to be on the toilet forever. She reveals what these “magic pills” actually are (usually laxatives) and calls out celebrities who endorse them. I absolutely love her bravery and tenacity in calling people out who are much more “popular” or “famous” than her. She isn’t holding back.
In addition to taking down detoxes and other stupid weight-loss scams, she’s been using her power and notoriety to discuss the notion of accepting women as they are. Specifically, she’s gone after photoshopping. She states, and I agree, that by photoshopping every model, actress, etc. you ever see creates a warped image of what people think they should look like. That could mean shrunk waists, elimination of stretch marks, or arm hair. She tore into Avon after they launched a marketing campaign saying, “Dimples are cute on your face (not on your thighs).” She accused them of body-shaming women for normal, natural occurrences in our bodies due to age, gravity, and genetics. And she’s absolutely right. But how many times have we simply accepted advertisements like this? I’d wager most of the time. We are so trained to believe this about our bodies and what the ideal body is. I know I can be ashamed about my cellulite.
What is really cool about the whole debacle above is that Avon listened to Jamil and pulled the ad, saying, “We hear you and we apologize. We messed up on our Smooth Moves Naked Proof messaging. We want to let you know that we are working diligently to remove this messaging from our marketing materials moving forward. We’re on it. We love our community of women.” Jamil’s persistent, honest attack on these body-shaming, magic-cream tactics works.
And it makes you think…what if more people with clout spoke up about this stuff? What if our grandchildren didn’t worry about their cellulite, stretch marks, body hair, and any other thing we deem unacceptable in our current society? It gives me goosebumps. So, thank you, Jameela Jamil, for fighting the good fight for all of us. I can’t wait to see who joins you in this movement and how we will soar about this dumb beauty stuff. Fitness is not about aesthetics, as much as the industry would like you to believe. It’s about health. And you can be healthy and have cellulite. And as always, stay hungry and fit!
