Empowering Quotes From The Body Positive Queen: Lizzo

She is 100% That B*tch, and she wants everyone to love themselves just the way they are

Kylin

• Published in Film & TV
• May 18, 2022

Born in Detroit as Melissa Jefferson, Lizzo is a classically trained flutist (her flute is affectionately named “Sasha Flute”) as well as a rapper and singer. While it may feel like Lizzo suddenly exploded onto the scene in 2019, she had been learning, recording, and performing for over a decade at that point.

In 2011 she moved to Minneapolis and continued to pursue her dream of creating music between being in an electro-soul, an all-female rap group, and her own solo work. Lizzo began touring as a solo artist in 2013 and then signed with Atlantic in 2016.

It was due to the success of the release of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You that Lizzo skyrocketed into the mainstream. With bangers like “Juice” and “Tempo”, and the re-release of “Truth Hurts” on the deluxe version, it’s really no surprise.

Time named Lizzo "Entertainer of the Year" in 2019 for her meteoric rise and contribution to music. In addition to her three Grammy Awards, she has also won a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards.

Lizzo has struggled with her body image from a young age, and even throughout her career to today, there have been people trying to shame her and how she looks. So once Lizzo found herself with the attention of the mainstream media, she used her platform to be an advocate for body positivity and self-love. 

She partially credits social media, and the Internet in general, for changing the narrative around size and giving visibility to overweight women. "Back in the day, all you really had were the modeling agencies," Lizzo said in an interview with Glamour.

"I think that's why it made everything so limited for what was considered beautiful. It was controlled from this one space. But now we have the internet. So if you want to see somebody who's beautiful and looks like you, go on the internet and just type something in. Type in blue hair. Type in thick thighs. Type in back fat. You'll find yourself reflected. That's what I did to help find the beauty in myself."

In the spirit of Lizzo and self-acceptance, body positivity, and self-love, we put together a list of quotes from Lizzo about loving yourself. Take a break from the daily grind and take a moment to love yourself.

Lizzo's Glow-Up

Lizzo shared with E! News At the 2019 BET Awards,  "Last year I came to the BET Awards, I tried to go to the carpet and the carpet closed and they were like, 'You gotta just go inside.' And now I'm on the carpet doing all these interviews, taking all these pictures, feeling like that bitch, nominated and performing on the main stage. I couldn't ask for a better glow up."

We can save the world if we first save ourselves

"I'm all about body positivity and self-love because I believe that we can save the world if we first save ourselves," Lizzo told fans at a show in Sydney, Australia in January 2020, according to local newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Learn to love your least favorite thing about yourself

"You know how long it took me to fall in love with this body?" the body positivity advocate shared on CBS This Morning. "My butt was my least favorite thing about myself. And I learned to love it. And now it's the thing everybody can't stop talking about... Be you. Do you. Don't let anybody steal your joy."

Shaking up the narrative about how we're supposed to act

In May 2019, Lizzo, who plays a stripper in Hustlers, told Essence, "I love creating shapes with my body, and I love normalizing the dimples in my butt or the lumps in my thighs or my back fat or my stretch marks. I love normalizing my black-ass elbows. I think it's beautiful."

"I made a decision to be myself because I knew I had no choice," she added. "Sometimes the label 'unapologetic' bothers me because it can be loaded, because it means we have to apologize for something in the first place. I'm not ignorant to the fact that we had to have a demeanor of lowering ourselves culturally just to exist. But I'm trying to shake up the narrative about how we're supposed to act."

Say, "I love you, me"

"Close your eyes and say, 'I love you, me,'" she told the crowd while performing at iHeartRadio's 102.7 KIIS FM 2019 Jingle Ball. "Now look at me and say, 'I love you, Lizzo. Now, this is a very no judgment crowd, no shame in your game. If you want to wiggle, I want to see you wiggle. If you want to laugh, then laugh. If you want to scream, scream!"

Later in her set, she thanked the crowd, "Thank you for accepting me for who I am. I want to let you know that if 20,000 people can accept me for who I am, the whole world can fall in love with you."

Some of the many layers of racism

Lizzo tweeted after a racist security guard attacked members of her team at Summerfest in June 2019, "Friendly reminder that you don't have to say the 'n word' to be racist. That's not the sole requirement. Asking people to prove racism is another tool the oppressor uses to marginalize and discredit us."

Lizzo vs. Jillian Michaels

Jillian Michaels, the former Biggest Loser trainer said on Buzzfeed News' digital series AM to DM, "Why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter? Why aren't we celebrating her music? 'Cause it isn't going to be awesome if she gets diabetes." Michaels was accused of fat-shaming the singer by her fans.

Lizzo later addressed Michaels's comments on Instagram, "I have done nothing wrong. I forgive myself for thinking I was wrong in the first place. I deserve to be happy." She also added, "If my name is in your mouth, so is my p---y, bitch. Enjoy the flavor!"

Calling out those trying to make a move while having someone on the side

"Please do not send me poems, letters, or paintings if ur side bitch is still playing dress up in ur home," she wrote on Instagram. "I'm doing great. Leave me alone, thanks."

Big statement with a tiny bag

Lizzo attended the 2019 American Music Awards with what she later said was a "bag big enough for my f--ks to give," adding, "Big body bitch in a Valentin-HO custom look for."

Not letting the hate get to her

On Jimmy Kimmel Live! Lizzo joined in reading Mean Tweets Music Edition. One said, "Lizzo. Bus passes and happy meals. Two things that I imagine #Lizzo has seen a lot of." She responded, "Yeah, I'm a big bitch and I ride a bus. A tour bus, motherf--ker. Where's yours?!"

The Grammy winner teamed up with Dove to encourage her fans and everyone else to love themselves just as they are

"To celebrate I wanna give y'all this unedited selfie..," she shared. "now normally I would fix my belly and smooth my skin but baby I wanted show u how I do it au natural—I am excited to be partnering with @dove and the #DoveSelfEsteemProject which is helping to reverse the negative effects of social media and changing the conversation about beauty standards. Let's get real y'all."

Promoting the importance of self-care

"I want people to feel good! We can heal the world but first, we have to heal ourselves," Lizzo told fans while performing at the We Can Survive benefit concert in 2019.

On struggling with self-confidence

Lizzo told CBS Sunday Morning, "It's not something that you really change. It's something that you address and work on. I had to address every layer of insecurity because I can't just be like, 'Alright, my arm's not jiggly and lumpy anymore.' That's delusional. You have to be like, 'That's not ugly to me anymore and it's not wrong to me. It's beautiful to me.'"

Teaching us how to love ourselves by sharing a video loving herself

Cherish your journey and respect your journey

"You're not supposed to be happy all the time," she told a group of band musicians at her high school, as captured in a CBS Sunday Morning profile. "You're not supposed to know what you're doing all the time, especially at this age, but not knowing what you're doing has nothing to do with where you're going, so I want you to know that. Cherish your journey and respect your journey."

She shares how she repurposes her anxiety

"When I get really, really anxious before a show, I just go harder and harder and harder when I'm performing and I just go crazy," Lizzo told British Vogue. "I don't know why, but my anxiety sometimes fuels who I am as a performer and who I am as an artist – and I know that is not the case for everyone. I don't know if my body just, like, out of a desperate need to find a place for my anxiety or find a use for it, takes it and puts it there."

Do yourself a favor and check out Lizzo's BET performance

Lizzo is an incredible role model for anyone struggling with their body image. I hope you’re able to take something positive from this and put the energy into loving yourself just as you are right now.

Loving yourself as a fat person doesn’t mean you or anyone else is glorifying obesity or laziness. It is possible to be fat and healthy at the same time.

And you can love yourself as a fat person while making choices that may or may not change how your body looks. All these things can and do exist at the same time.

Just because someone is overweight, it doesn’t mean they’re unhealthy or unworthy of love and kindness.

Kylin