Camila Cabello has opened up about the body image pressure she feels is placed on women after being photographed by paparazzi in Miami.
The singer took to Instagram to post her thoughts, explaining that every time she checks into a beach club in Miami she is photographed by paparazzi and, while she has felt good at the time, she then sees “pictures online and [the] comments and [have] been so upset”.
She went on to explain that, as a culture, we have gotten “so used” to what an image of a “healthy” woman’s body should look like that we fail to understand that this isn’t real for a lot of women.
“Photoshop, restrictive eating, over-exercising, and choosing angles that make our bodies look different than how they are in the moment and in their natural form, when we take a deep breath, when we eat a meal, when we allow the waves to tussle us around. I remind myself of this, listen to podcasts on intuitive eating, follow women who accept their cellulite, stretch marks, bellies, bloating and weight fluctuations … and still,” the 25-year-old wrote on her Instagram post, which she captioned simply with a tear emoji.
“I’m a single woman in her twenties in the middle of a s*** ton of promo and I want to feel like I look ‘good’. Today I got a new bikini, a whole f***in’ cute outfit, put lip gloss on, and didn’t eat anything too heavy before going into the ocean cause I knew it was gonna [sic] basically be a photoshoot.”
Cabello explained that, as she knew she was being photographed, she held her core “so tight my abs hurt”. She added: “[I] didn’t breathe and barely smiled and was so self-conscious of where the paps were the whole time. I couldn’t let go and relax and do what we’re meant to do when we go out in nature. I tried to pretend they weren’t there but I couldn’t and I held my breath from my sun chair to the ocean.”
The singer said she noticed a group of toddlers who were playing in the waves and their excitement, and said that is the thing she loves about being in nature.
“I knew I looked ‘good’ in the pictures and thought I would feel accomplished and yet I’ve never had a worse time at the beach,” she continued. “I felt the emptiness and sadness of our culture’s thoughts that became my thoughts. I wanted to talk about this because we see pictures of women and praise them for looking good, looking fit and ‘healthy’, but what is health if you are so fixated on what your body looks like that your mental health suffers for you can’t enjoy your life?”
Cabello, who split from fellow singer Shawn Mendes last year, added: “Who am I trying to look attractive for and am I even attractive to myself if I can’t let loose and relax and have fun and be playful on a beautiful day at the beach? I’m not yet at the point in my journey where I can not give a f***.
“Intellectually, I know what I look like doesn’t determine how healthy, happy or sexy I am. Emotionally, the messaging I get from our world is loud in my own head. Ironically, all the therapy, all the inner work, is to try and get back to feeling like seven-year-old me at the beach. I’m mourning her today. Happy, silly, breathing, pretending to be a mermaid, FREE.
“PS I ran away to the pool area where hopefully they don’t get me but they literally hide in the bushes sometimes. I’m exhausted lol.”
Emily in Paris actor Lily Collins commented on Cabello’s post, writing: “I feel you and am sending all the love and positive vibes your way.”
It’s not the first time Cabello has spoken about body image. In a TikTok post last year, the singer discussed why “being at war with your body is so last season” and was praised for embracing her “curves, cellulite and stretch marks”.
