Jenna Bush Hager received a story about how criticizing a person’s body can have lasting negative effects.
On Wednesday, Bush Hager and his “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb discussed Ariana Grande’s recent response to unsolicited comments from social media users about her appearance. The singer got vulnerable talking about a difficult time in her life, telling fans in a TikTok video: “The body you compared my current body to was the most unhealthy version of my body.”
Kotb and Bush Hager talked about how common it is for people to judge other people’s bodies and how harmful it can be, “even if you do it with good intentions.”
“It’s so interesting, because people hit you right where it hurts,” said Bush Hager, daughter of former President George W. Bush. “I had a boyfriend in seventh grade who broke up with me after we went swimming together after he saw me in a bathing suit.”
“I feel like now, sometimes when I’m feeling great — I’ve had three kids, three c-sections, I’m very comfortable in my body and I think that’s a beautiful thing — I go to the pool and take a moment,” he said.
There is a growing awareness that commenting on someone’s body is never a good idea, even if the comments are meant to be positive, such as praising someone for losing weight.
“You mean this person’s previous body was not worthy of him [it was]social worker and fat acceptance activist Toni Wilson told HuffPost in 2021. “You associate beauty and dignity with weight loss, you say fat is inferior and something to get rid of.”
In 2017, Shonda Rhimes was surprisingly open about how harmful apparently she received praise for her weight loss. The writer and producer said I felt like people were finally seeing me as a person after losing 150 pounds.
“How the hell did they see me before? How invisible was I to them then?” Rhimes wrote in her “Shondaland” newsletter. “What value did they place on my presence at a party, a lunch, a discussion?”
Lena Dunham, who was criticized in 2021 for regaining the weight she had previously lost, clarified in an Instagram post at the time that she was not healthy and struggle with addiction when he was weaker.
Jonah Hill also said he’s heard people talking about his weight loss in 2021 “useless.”
“I know you mean well, but please don’t comment on my body,” the actor wrote on Instagram. “For better or for worse, I want to politely tell you that it’s not helpful and it doesn’t feel right. Much respect.”
