As The X Factor returned for it's new series at the end of August, I couldn't be more excited to see Cheryl back on the TV every week until Christmas. I have looked up to Cheryl for many, many years as a role-model and a big influence to my life.
As Cheryl stepped out on the red carpet in early July to begin filming, the media decided to take it upon themselves to print the pictures with disgusting headlines like 'Cheryl Fernandez-Versini is skinner then normal' or 'Cheryl looks thinner than ever'.
The picture above was at the first round of the X Factor auditions. A picture where Cheryl looks happy and glowing. What extremely annoyed me about the body-shaming headlines is that Cheryl was wearing a crop-top, which shows her stomach. Cheryl was clearly happy with the way she looked to wear it. The media then jumped in to make her feel like her weight isn't normal or healthy. Loose Women also took place later that week. An English panel show, which contains just WOMEN. They went on to make comments about Cheryl looking anorexic and being a bad-role model. With the Loose Women panel being females in the public eye, I would've thought they would know how much it hurts to read lies in the media about themselves. They praise how girl power should be preached and how women should stick together, but then go on to skinny shame Cheryl. Using the word 'anorexic' to describe Cheryl is not only offensive to Cheryl herself, but also to many people who suffer from anorexia which is a mental illness and should not be used as a way to describe somebody's weight.
On to how people have been saying Cheryl is a bad-role model by losing weight. Cheryl has said she has lost weight due to the loss of her father in-law recently and also partly down to stress. This is something that cannot be helped, but she has also said she is happy and healthy and is not ill in any way. The fact that the media think that people look up to Cheryl because of her weight is ridiculous. A lot of people have said Cheryl is a bad role model, in particular to young girls. Young girls actually choose their role-models, such as Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus. Each one would have had a negative story written about them at some time during their career, but young people will still look up to them. Not every young girl will look up to Cheryl. Cheryl didn't ask to be their role-model. Cheryl's weight isn't the only aspect that inspires Cheryl's fanbase. How about the fact Cheryl grew up in poverty but has made it to where she is today through determination and dedication to music? How about the fact that she makes music with inspiring lyrics and wonderful messages that help her fans in every aspect of life? How about that Cheryl has been through a lot of bad media stories with her personal life but still made it out the other side? How about Cheryl having her own charity to help young people? These are just a few of the inspirational messages that her fanbase takes from Cheryl as a role model. I do not look to Cheryl as an inspiration because she is 'body goals', I look up to Cheryl for all of the other reasons.
Since when has it ever been right to body-shame anybody. You wouldn't tell a friend they are too fat or big so why is it okay to tell somebody to go and eat. Just because Cheryl is in the public eye, she still has feelings and she is still a human being. If the media didn't mention Cheryl losing weight, would anybody else have mentioned it? People seem to have taken their opinions of Cheryl from the media and they haven't developed their own opinions. Cheryl is quite short anyway and Cheryl has never been big in size, so why is it that now people are body-shaming her? Because society thinks it's okay to do so. Society is telling young people that they can't be looked at as 'fat' or 'obese' but then criticise Cheryl for being 'skinny'.
Cheryl isn't a bad role-model. She is a fantastic and inspiring women who I have looked up to for years and she will always be a huge influence on my life. Cheryl isn't the bad role-model. Society and the media are!
-HappiestEqualsPrettiest xo
