POP CULTURE
NEWS | ENTERTAINMENT | HEARSAY
The queen of pop lives by her STANDARDS
Who is the biggest-selling female artist of all time? For most of her career, she was referred to as the "Queen of Pop", and regarded as one of the most influential figures in popular culture.
Have you guessed it? It’s Madonna!
Madonna is now 62 years old. She has found it more and more difficult to hold on to approval and relevance within the showbiz world. The music industry and mainstream media unmercifully outcast artists that are “old”, “irrelevant” or difficult to sell.
Madonna is still very popular and active on social media. She has nearly 15.5 million Instagram followers, 2.7 million Twitter followers and nearly 18 million likes for her Facebook page.
Her posts are often bold and sometimes a little controversial. A recent set of Instagram posts grabbed negative attention for how body revealing they were.
But exposing her body cannot really be the problem can it? She is certainly not the first celebrity to expose their body on social media, and this doesn’t usually attract such negative press….. quite the opposite!
Unless women fit the narrow and restrictive media mould, they are ignored, censored or bullied. Women are not given the freedom to be themselves and this is something we must seriously challenge. No society can be fair or just if it doesn’t allow people to exercise their right to be and express who they really are. We must build a culture in which we shame the shamers, and we are free to live by our own standards.
Pay no attention to the absurd and fabricated standards of others, especially those of mainstream and social media. Live life on your terms. Be proud, be bold, be expressive. Most importantly, be the best person you can be, and that is to be unapologetically and unashamedly you!
JESY NELSON LITTLE MIX STAR RESORTS TO PLASTIC SURGERY
Jesy Nelson is an Essex-born singer and member of the British group Little Mix. The group was formed on The X Factor in 2011 and became the first group to win the competition. Little Mix has sold just under 60 million records worldwide, placing them in the top 5 of the best selling girl groups of all time.
When Little Mix were announced as that year’s winners, the group were “on cloud nine”. But just hours after winning the show, Jesy’s excitement was turned upside down by trolls commenting on her appearance. “I had about 101 Facebook messages in my inbox, and the first one that came up was from some random man, saying: ‘You are the ugliest thing I’ve seen in my life, you do not deserve to be in this girl band. You deserve to die’.”
It was a devastating blow to Jesy who, up until the barrage of insults and hate, hadn’t had any problems with her body image. “It became the worst time of my life,” she says. “I wasn’t just known as one of the singers in Little Mix, I was known as ‘the fat, ugly one’.”
In 2019, Jesy presented a BBC Three documentary based on her experiences with body image and online bullying. It was titled Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out, and it went on to win the Factual Entertainment Award at the National Television Awards. In a candid and tearful moment, Jesy recalls how she took an overdose after taunts about her looks became too much to bear.
In 2013, Little Mix returned to the X Factor as guest stars. “I’d lost quite a bit of weight, and we were going back on X Factor to perform our new single,” Jesy says. This time their performance was not her priority. “All I cared about was people seeing me and saying ‘Oh, she looks good’. I starved myself for a week”. But the comments continued, and Jesy says her mental health “spiralled out of control”. “I thought, 'I could be the skinniest girl in the world, and this is never going to go away’,” she remembers. “That was the point I got severely depressed.”
Although she fought back against the bullying with great strength and courage, it seems she has ultimately caved to the immense pressure. It is important to say, however, that this is not a reflection of Jesy’s weakness. Far from it. This is a reflection of the relentless and utterly cruel abuse she was subjected to.
Whilst we totally respect Jesy’s right to do whatever she wishes with her body, we can’t help but think she is one of the tens of millions of women each year who are tormented into undergoing cosmetic surgery.
If you live by other people’s terms, you will to some and usually a large extent lose yourself, in some cases beyond all recognition. Living like this is tough, and will lead you towards a never-ending uphill battle.
HAPPINESS IS FOUND BY LIVING LIFE COMFORTABLE BEING THE ONLY PERSON YOU CAN TRULY BE….IMPERFECT, YET BEAUTIFUL YOU!
You can watch Jesy Nelson: ‘Odd One Out’ on BBC iPlayer now
“I MAY BE THE FIRST WOMAN IN THIS OFFICE, I WON’T BE THE LAST”
The 2020 US presidential election took place last month and, for the very first time in US history, has resulted in a female Vice-President. Kamala Harris, a lawyer of mixed ethnic heritage, is the successful candidate. This, for many, is an important milestone in the progress towards gender and racial equality, and therefore, an important milestone to celebrate. We at I Am BeYoutiful are amongst those celebrating, but like others, we ask the question ……. WHY HAS IT TAKEN SO LONG?
The inspiring Black Lives Matter movement has recently and effectively highlighted the systemic racism that exists across the world today. Like racism, sexism is also systemic and widespread and works to restrict to lives of so many girls and women. Both form what is referred to as a ‘glass ceiling’, a metaphor used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents women and minority groups from rising beyond a certain level, usually in their careers or workplace.
Women still earn, on average, 20% less than men, and account for only 6% of the World’s top CEOs and just 34% of MPs in the UK House of Commons. Statistics like this exist in every industry and sphere of society and this inequality begins in childhood. 57% of teachers admit to stereotyping boys and girls, and children as young as 5 are aware that women tend to stay at home with the children whilst men go off to work.
From having to go above an beyond to prove her presidential electability, to combatting baseless political and outright racist and sexist attacks, Kamala Harris has faced countless acts of discrimination during her career as a lawyer and politician.
We at I Am BeYoutiful continue to say loud and clear….. girls and women have the same capabilities, worth and value as boys and men. The ‘glass ceiling’ mentioned above is waiting to be shattered! If and when we reach it, let us not be deterred, let us believe in our worth, and our abilities, and let us keep pushing upward despite the barriers thrown in our way.
Our mission is to change the perception of beauty. To change the way young women view themselves and change the way they are viewed by the world around them. Join us on the BeYoutiful journey.
