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Billie Eilish wore a tank top in public, and the teen singer was instantly objectified

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18:  Billie Eilish performs live on the Rooftop at Pier 17 on June 12, 2019 in New York City.  (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Billie Eilish performs live on the Rooftop at Pier 17 on June 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

Words: Megan Johnson

It certainly didn’t take long, but 17-year-old music star Billie Eilish is already getting objectified on the internet.

The singer, whose album "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" headed to number one on the Billboard 200 chart back in April, was recently photographed wearing a white tank top under a baggy zip-up sweatshirt.

That kicked off an onslaught of tweets commenting on the teen’s appearance, including one that said “Billie Eilish is THICK.”

READ MORE: Sports Illustrated model calls out body-shamers

Soon after the tweet hit the internet, a backlash ensued in the singer’s defence.

“She wears baggy clothes all her career and then the one time she puts on a tank top y’all jump on her immediately and over sexualize her lol y’all need to back up she’s literally 17 YEARS OLD,” [sic] one user wrote.

“She is an angel who needs to be protected,” one Twitter user wrote.

“She literally said she chooses to wear baggy clothes so nobody can say shit about her body. the fact she even has to worry about that is sick,” another added.

“billie eilish is not only 1) a minor (17) but also 2) wears baggy clothes so that she doesn’t receive creepy comments like this about her body yet the One Day she wears a tank suddenly nothing else matters,” another Twitter user responded. “ppl are disappointing and gross.”

Those Twitter users are correct. The criticism of Eilish’s appearance comes soon after she said she intentionally wears baggy clothing to avoid comments about the way she looks.

Read more: Celine Dion hits back at body-shamers after weight loss

“I never want the world to know everything about me,” Eilish recently said. “I mean, that’s why I wear big, baggy clothes. Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath, you know? Nobody can be like, ‘Oh, she’s slim-thick, she’s not slim-thick, she’s got a flat ass, she’s got a fat ass. No one can say any of that, because they don’t know.”

The idea of superstardom is uncomfortable for Eilish, who has called fame “horrible.”

“It’s worth it because it lets me play shows and meet people, but fame itself is f—dreadful,” she previously told Marie Claire.

Eilish built her success through the use of SoundCloud and YouTube. The singer was named one of the breakout music artists of 2018 by Yahoo Entertainment.