Influencer Gabriella Lascano shared her thoughts on the body positivity movement.
bLascano, 35, got candid about her true thoughts on being a body positivity influencer while chatting with The New York Times on Monday, February 16. “I used to be a body positivity influencer, preaching a simple message — love yourself at any size,” Lascano said in a video. “Then, I risked it all.”
The camera then cut to a social media clip of Lascano saying, “I don’t care how trendy or cute or fun it seems to be fat. You got to really think about your health. Love yourself at any size, but don’t forget that your heart has to beat, babes.”
Now, she’s “renouncing” the movement and explaining why. “Since I was a little girl, I always knew I was bigger. But I’m from the Bronx, where having a curvy body and a fat ass is what you want,” Lascano recalled, noting that she didn’t learn that “thinness is the beauty standard” until she got to college. “Even worse, fat people are seen as lazy and dumb,” she added.
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Lascano went on to say that she never intended to be a body positivity influencer and previously aspired to be an actress. “For women, the heavier we are, the less we’re paid,” she noted. “But being plus-size, I never felt like it was possible. And so I started my YouTube channel in 2010.”
As Lascano gained followers, she developed a community “from other plus-size women” who shared “how empowered they felt watching [her] content.”
“That just made me feel like I had a bigger purpose in what I was creating,” Lascano gushed, noting that she posted mostly fashion and travel content.
“Seeing a community that welcomes you with open arms and tells you there’s no pressure to look this way, to be this certain weight, I mean, does that not sound like paradise?” Lascano said. “Then, over time, I got heavier and heavier. I’ve always been an adventurous person, but there was a lot I couldn’t do anymore. Fitting into the seats on roller coasters, planes. I couldn’t wear heels. My dresses wouldn’t zip up. And that wasn’t all.”
She went on to say that she felt like she didn’t “even recognize” herself and was “close to 400 pounds.”
“I started to wonder if loving myself at any size had become an excuse to ignore how big I was getting,” Lascano shared. “I felt like I saw myself being brainwashed, essentially. Meanwhile, the language around body positivity began sounding more extreme online.”
After her friend and another body positivity influencer died from health complications, Lascano decided to share her thoughts online. “The backlash was massive,” she said.
“The body positivity community branded me a pariah, and so I left. I want to lose more weight, but I still feel a lot better than I did before,” Lascano recalled. “I feel a lot more like myself. Let me be clear. Not every fat person is unhealthy. Not every skinny person is healthy.”
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She concluded her message by saying that people should not be “mistreated” for their weight.
Lascano continued: “Studies show obese people are about six times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. … We can still be body positive, while acknowledging these [health] risks. We can still love ourselves even if we want to lose weight. That’s what real body positivity should stand for. Loving yourself at any size and having the freedom to change it.”