Selena Gomez, like many individuals worldwide, has experienced changes in her body and fluctuations in weight over the years, a journey she candidly reflected upon in a relatable and body-positive Instagram post.
On January 22, the star of “Only Murders in the Building” shared a pair of images on her IG Stories. The first featured an old paparazzi snapshot of Gomez donning a zebra-print string bikini, accompanied by the text, “Today I realized I will never look like this again,” in bold lettering.
The second image, more recent, captured Gomez ascending a boat’s ladder after a swim, adorned in a black and white bathing suit, glancing over her shoulder at the camera. The overlaid text on this photo conveyed a powerful message: “I’m not perfect, but I am proud to be who I am. Sometimes I forget it’s okay to be me.”
While the natural evolution of Gomez’s body is a common experience, the unfortunate level of body-shaming she endures on the internet is far from normal.
A stark example occurred a year ago when photos of Gomez in a black-and-white bathing suit, simply enjoying her vacation, sparked a barrage of body-shaming comments online—a response that was not only disheartening but also prompted her to address the issue on multiple occasions.
In a December 2022 interview with Glamour, Selena Gomez opened up about her lifelong struggle with the pressure to be perfect or conform to a certain appearance.
She revealed, “From the time I can remember, I’ve always felt like I had to be perfect or look a certain way. It took me a long time to realize that I only wanted to be myself—that what made me unique was also what made me beautiful.”