Selena Gomez’s best body positivity moments: ‘I am perfect the way I am’

Throughout her career thus far, Selena Gomez has shared her candid thoughts about self love and body positivity with her fans.

Whether through one-on-one interviews or her popular TikTok page, 30-year-old Gomez isn’t afraid to speak out about being comfortable in her own skin and how she keeps her confidence up.

Here are some of the beloved body positivity advocate’s best moments so far.

How she was inspired by body-shaming experiences

During an interview with Extra TV back in 2015, the “Lose You to Love Me” singer opened up about a point in her life where she received a lot of online criticism about her body. She said she used that experience to her advantage and channelled it into writing more music for her album, Revival.

“I was getting a lot of hate for my body and ‘you’re gaining weight,’ and so I was in Mexico and I was just feeling all of this stuff and I would be lying to you if I said it didn’t kind of hurt my feelings, but I kind of channelled that into my music,” she explained. “I felt like everybody was saying so much and I’m like, ‘I need to say something.’ The songs I wrote] on the record are ‘Survivors,’ ‘Kill ‘em with Kindness,’ and ‘Rise’…It’s all geared towards me trying to be heard, and I think this is the best thing that I’ve ever done in my whole career and I’m so excited.”

Why she’s responded to trolls on social media

Gomez opened up being body shamed following her trip to Mexico in 201 during an interview on On Air with Ryan Seacrest. At the time, she responded to the online hate by posting a photo on Instagram of herself in a swimsuit along with the caption: “I love being happy with me yall #theresmoretolove.”

To Seacrest, she said that she shared the photo to “embrace” how her body and to show that the trolls weren’t affecting her.

“The reason why I did that is because I didn’t want them to win,” the former Disney Channel star said. “Because then, the next day, it wasn’t about how I gained weight. It was about how I embraced it. And that’s just kind of my approach.”

How she maintains her confidence

The former child star has said that growing up in the spotlight impacted her relationship with herself and her physical appearance. During an interview with Glamour UK in February, Gomez said that one way she’s worked on her confidence is by disregarding any societal beauty standards that exist in Hollywood.

“Being in the public eye from such an early age certainly comes with a lot of pressure,” she explained. “It’s hard to feel comfortable when you feel like everyone is watching, judging, and commenting on the way you look. Self-confidence is still something I work on daily, but when I stopped trying to conform to society’s unrealistic standards of beauty, my perspective entirely shifted.”

On her struggles with body image

During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter’s roundtable in June, Gomez discussed being sexualised at a young age and recalled how uncomfortable she felt after showing her body on an album cover.

“I actually did an album cover, and I was really ashamed after I did it,” the “Rare” singer said. “I had to work through those feelings because I realised it was attached to something deeper that was going on.”

She added: “I’ve done my best, at least I try, to be myself. I’m not an overly sexual person. Sometimes I like to feel sexy, but that doesn’t mean it’s for somebody else. It can be for me.”

On feeling “perfect” the way she is

In April, Gomez used a TikTok story to once again address the harsh judgement that she’s received about her body. She shared what food she’d just ordered before saying she “doesn’t care” about her weight and that she’s “perfect” the way she is.

“So I be trying to stay skinny, but I went to Jack in the Box and I got four tacos, three egg rolls, onion rings and a spicy chicken sandwich,” she said. “But honestly, I don’t care about my weight because people b**** about it anyway. ‘You’re too small.’ ‘You’re too big.’ ‘That doesn’t fit.’ ‘Meh meh meh.”

“B****, I am perfect the way I am,” she added. “Moral of the story? Bye.”

How she’s bringing “real stomachs” back

The Rare Beauty founder showed off her La’Marriette swimsuit on TikTok earlier this month and embraced how her body looked in it. When a voice in the background told her to “suck” her stomach in, Gomez noted that she was not going to do that.

“I’m not sucking s*** in,” she mouthed over an audio. “Real stomachs are coming the f*** back, ok.”