Billie Eilish hits out at the double standard of being slut-shamed for posting a ‘tame’ bikini photo: ‘I can’t win’
Billie Eilish has become known for her signature baggy clothes since her swift rise to stardom.
But when the five-time Grammy winner opts for a look outside of her comfort zone every now and then, she’s shocked at the reaction it gets.
In a new interview the singer opened up about being slut-shamed earlier this year after she shared a ‘tame’ video of herself from the shoulders up in a bikini while on vacation in Hawaii with friends.
Double standard: Billie Eilish recently opened up about being slut-shamed earlier year after she posted a ‘tame’ video of herself from the shoulders up in a bikini (pictured in January, 2020)
The 18-year-old said during her Dazed cover interview: ‘I saw comments like, ‘How dare she talk about not wanting to be sexualized and wear this?!”
‘It was trending. There were comments like, ‘I don’t like her anymore because as soon as she turns 18 she’s a whore.’ Like, dude. I can’t win. I can-not win.’
In the past, she’s revealed the reasoning behind her signature look, partially not wanting to be sexualized, but also having to do with her own body image.
She told Vogue in her March cover interview: ‘I just hated my body. I would have done anything to be in a different one.’
Backlash: The 18-year-old said during her Dazed cover interview: ‘I saw comments like, ‘How dare she talk about not wanting to be sexualized and wear this?!”
Can’t win: She added: ‘It was trending. There were comments like, ‘I don’t like her anymore because as soon as she turns 18 she’s a whore.’ Like, dude. I can’t win. I can-not win’
Eilish added: ‘I really wanted to be a model, really bad, and I was chubby and short. I developed really early. I had boobs at nine. I got my period at 11. So my body was going faster than my brain.’
She also revealed to Dazed that her issues with body image have gotten to the point where she doesn’t even want to look at her reflection.
The Bad Guy artist said: ‘There was a point last year where I was naked and I didn’t recognize my body ’cause I hadn’t seen it in a while. I would see it sometimes and be like, “Whose body is that?”‘
Body image: In the past, she’s revealed the reasoning behind her signature look, partially not wanting to be sexualized, but also having to do with her own body image (pictured in February, 2020)
Insecurities: She told Vogue in her March cover interview: ‘I just hated my body. I would have done anything to be in a different one’ (pictured in February, 2020)
Mirror mirror: She also revealed to Dazed that her issues with body image have gotten to the point where she doesn’t even want to look at her reflection: ‘There was a point last year where I was naked and I didn’t recognize my body ’cause I hadn’t seen it in a while’ (pictured in March, 2020)
But she said she’s gotten better about it: ‘It’s not that I like (my body) now, I just think I’m a bit more OK with it.’
Still, Eilish feels somewhat boxed in by her own signature look, and she knows changing it up could cause even more backlash.
She said: ‘If I wore a dress to something, I would be hated for it. People would be like, “You’ve changed, how dare you do what you’ve always rebelled against?” I’m like, “I’m not rebelling against anything, really.” I can’t stress it enough.
‘I’m just wearing what I wanna wear. If there’s a day when I’m like, “You know what, I feel comfortable with my belly right now and I wanna show my belly,” I should be allowed to do that.’
Getting better: But she said she’s gotten better about it: ‘It’s not that I like (my body) now, I just think I’m a bit more OK with it’ (pictured in January, 2020)