Billie Eilish kicked off her Where Do We Go? world tour in Miami by sending a bold message about body image.
The singer, who’s known for favoring loose-fitting clothing in an effort to keep people from sexualizing her body, made a big statement in a video that played before she sang her song “All the Good Girls Go to Hell.”
While the Grammy winner spoke in a voiceover about body image criticism she’s faced, she slowly shed layers of clothing — down to a bra top — as the crowd cheered wildly. As she undressed, she lowered herself into a pool of water, the fan video showed.
“Do you really know me?” she asked in the interlude. “You have opinions about my opinions, about my music, about my clothes, about my body. Some people hate what I wear, some people praise it. Some people use it to shame others, some people use it to shame me. But I feel you
watching … always. And nothing I do goes unseen.”
Eilish continued, “So while I feel your stares, your disapproval or your sighs of relief, if I lived by them, I’d never be able to move. Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest? Am I my stomach? My
hips?
The body I was born with, is it not what you wanted? If what I wear is comfortable, I am not a woman. If I shed the layers, I am a slut.”
She ended with, “Though you’ve never seen my body, you still judge it and judge me for it. Why? You make assumptions about people based on their size.
We decide who they are. We decide what they’re worth. If I wear more, if I wear less, who decides what that makes me? What that
means? Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?”
As if the screams in the audience weren’t enough, social media has been praising her powerful message. One fan called her “the strongest, most empowering woman i know.”
