The Good Celebrity

I was recently exposed to Jameela Jamil who is now one of my favorite celebrities. I’ve seen her as an actress on “The Good Place” and host of “The Misery Index”, two shows I recently started watching, but I never knew how influential she is. In her Instagram bio, she calls herself a Feminist-in-progress, and she's a great one too.

She has a separate Instagram account where she advocates against any type of shame. A common theme is body shaming, and she fully supports "body neutrality". Poppy Noor, the writer of the article about Jameela, describes body neutrality as "the idea that women's bodies should just not be commented on at all" (The Guardian). This is what the page is about. In many pictures, women post a selfie then write things they love about themselves on the selfie.

The motivation behind this is what she has experienced with her weight in the past. She explained on insider that she struggled with anorexia as a teenager. She told BuzzFeed News that during a math activity, she had to be weighed along with other students in order to learn about percentages. She was the heaviest girl, and “for the next three weeks all [she] could hear was people talking about how [she] was the heaviest girl in the year”.  She stopped eating and started suffering from body dysmorphia around age 14. Jameela has grown up wishing she were thinner, along with many girls around the world. 

Jameela has grown to focus on more things she takes pride in, like her career and relationships. Spending time thinking about these two things has helped her go beyond her appearance. Now, she wants to help people around the world do the same by actively calling out celebrities like Cardi B and the Kardashians for promoting diet products. This is something many people are afraid to do, and I admire her for taking this action.

There are many celebrities who "talk the talk" about body shaming and controversial topics. Still, many of they don't take steps to actively fight against it. Jameela is genuinely "walking the walk". She is using her fame to change mindsets, not just bring awareness. This is why Jameela Jamil is a woman worth your follow.

References

Blackmon, Michael. “Jameela Jamil Opened Up About Her Struggle With An Eating Disorder 

As A Teen.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 2 Oct. 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michaelblackmon/jameela-jamil.

Noor, Poppy. “What Is Body Neutrality, the New Trend Loved by Beautiful Celebs?” The 

Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Nov. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/oct/31/body-neutrality-taylor-swift-jameela-jamil-latest-trend.