On Tuesday (April 11), Ariana Grande expressed her thoughts about people making comments about other people’s appearances, including her own, on TikTok. Such news is indeed sad, and we should remember that commenting on someone’s appearance is always a big no. But, the Grammy-winning artist, who is a beloved singer worldwide, wanted to address concerns and briefly discuss what it means to have a body, to actually be seen, and, unfortunately, to be the subject of such intense scrutiny. Ariana shouldn’t address such concerns or talk about her own body; after all, it’s her body, and she’s not property.
However, here’s an excerpt of her statement:
We should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what; […] there are ways to compliment someone, or to ignore something that you see that you don’t like, that I think we should help each other work towards. Just to aim towards being safer and keeping each other safer.
Seeing things like this could definitely make some people believe it’s not necessary to leave negative comments about someone, especially when that person is a public one, and children and teenagers could read the comments.
Ariana went on further and explained how she had suffered with her personal health at times. She claimed, however, that she “shouldn’t have to justify it.” She continued by saying that she finally wanted to really spread her message in the most positive way to all her followers with the aim that maybe something optimistic could result from the discussion. And we also hope that!
But, as sad as it could be, Ariana’s recent statement isn’t the first one. Sometimes artists do what they have to do, but discussing their choices regarding their bodies shouldn’t be a thing at all.