American entertainers have always been known to be overt with their political and social views. American singer Lizzo is one of them; this pop diva is anything but reserved about voicing her opinion on these matters. She like most entertainers in this day and age, resorted to social media; utilizing her extensive following in the hopes of maybe prompting a change. Republican, Tennessee; Governor Bill Lee, passed a controversial law restricting public drag shows on the basis that it was “harmful to minors” and in that same week Lizzo tweeted, “Transphobia is lookin real rooted in racism right about now…” and a good amount of fans supported her in her way of thinking with one replying, “Its definitely rooted in white supremacy, same with homophobia.” She pondered even further with two more additional tweets one stating, “I’ve never heard a person say why they’re racist… Or fatphobic… I’ve never heard a reason why someone is transphobic… I think if we knew “why” these people felt this way there would be less support for these ideals. Because the “why” is more insidious than we realize” and the other clarifying the previous one stating, “Don’t get it twisted-I don’t care why people are bigoted. That’s a waste of my imagination. I feel like there’s a lot of complicit silence and apathetic participation going on that wouldn’t fly if people knew more.”
Essentially, it appears that Lizzo is in a way reflecting as well as mentally trying to dissect the root of hate, why people feel the way they feel, and maybe even how the answer to that why may shift that individual’s perspective. She seemingly feels a lot of apathy, passivity, and silence regarding these three tragic, but very existent realities in our society. Lizzo is all about love, as seen in one of her Instagram lives, she is crying and uttering some very sorrowful words stating, “I’m putting so much loving energy.. into the world…sometimes I feel like this world just don’t love me back.” She goes on to state; “What I won’t accept is y’all doing this to black woman over and over again. Especially us big, black girls. It’s fatphobic… it’s racist, and it’s hurtful.” Followed by: “If you don’t like my music…cool, If you don’t like rumors it’s all cool… but a lot of people don’t like me because of the way I look.”
Lizzo shared her thoughts regarding the return of the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on social media. She questioned Victoria Secrets’ attempt to change this by retweeting a post and stating; “This is a win for inclusivity for inclusivity’s sake. But if brands start doing this only because they’ve received backlash then what happens when the “trends” change again? Do the CEOs of these companies value true inclusivity? Or do they value money? Once again, she’s making note of that sense of apathy that people feel regarding bigotry. Here she’s questioning the company’s true motives as in the post, she retweeted a Victoria’s Secret commercial featuring more diverse models. Now I don’t know about you, but seeing a famous non-politician using their platform to make a change in the wretched and unjust aspects of our society is truly a refreshing scene.
