We often incorrectly ascribe super-human traits to our favorite celebrities. Just because they live their life in the limelight doesn’t mean that they’re unaffected by the words and actions of others.
In a recent interview with WhoWhatWear, Barbie Ferreira (star of HBO’s Euphoria ) dished on the several backhanded compliments that she receives on a daily basis and how society’s narrow-minded understanding of self-love is holding us back.
Barbie Ferreira is an actress, a model, as well as a rising star on HBO’s hit teen drama series — ‘Euphoria’.
Barbie began her love affair with the stage and acting when she was a young girl. Her first major success occurred after booking a photoshoot for American Apparel at the age of 16-years-old.
These days, she’s well on her way to becoming a household name.
Barbie plays Kat Hernandez on HBO’s Euphoria . In the series, Kat is a struggling teenager plagued with body-image issues — who later attempts to rewrite her own narrative by grasping hold of a newfound sense of confidence/budding sexuality.
‘Euphoria’ is a show that touches on a lot of serious subjects.
One of which, for her character, is learning to love herself in a world that doesn’t really want her to love herself.
In a recent interview with WhoWhatWear, she opened up about just that.
She sat down to discuss her own unique style, as well as the constant barrage of negging she faces every day.
Negging is the proper term for a “backhanded compliment.” It’s an act of emotional manipulation designed to undermine a person’s confidence and increase their need or desire for the manipulator’s approval.
And believe me, she is certainly not the only one who goes through this.
You might have even accidentally done it to someone yourself! For example, a sentence such as “Oh wow, you lost weight,” isn’t always the compliment that you think it is.
“I think bigger bodies are not as ‘trendy’ as they used to be, which is really sad to me,” Barbie began.
“But it’s more of a conversation of the fact that we all struggle with self-love, and I don’t think any young person has really figured it out yet,” she said .
Barbie also said that throughout her career, she’s felt a constant pressure to love herself at all times.
“What — did I say that? I never said that. You guys just say that. You posted that on me ,” the young star stated matter-of-factly.
She went on to explain how for the past three years, the pandemic has forced her to confront a lot of negative emotions.
Despite the many challenging moments, Barbie remains steadfast that the overall experience has been therapeutic and beneficial to her overall mental health and wellbeing.
“I hope other people can also feel the same way and release the pressure of being perfect and happy all the time,” she said thoughtfully.
Because as Barbie is quick to point out, that kind of mindset simply doesn’t exist in the real world. Furthermore, just because she lives and exists inside a plus-sized body, that shouldn’t be mistaken for confidence or an affirmation of self-worth.
Barbie expressed that there’s nothing radical or groundbreaking about her wearing a crop-top.
In her opinion, stating anything to the contrary is a thinly-veiled attempt at a backhanded compliment. It also negates the difficult journey of learning to love yourself, in spite of society’s stringent and narrow-minded definition of what constitutes beauty.
“I think it’s just inherent that I like to express myself through my clothes,” Barbie said. “I always have.”
Therein lies the rub. According to Barbie, shopping and being able to properly express herself has always come with its own inherent and logistical stressors.
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As Barbie points out, there has always been a severe limitation when it comes to the types of clothes she can wear.
“I have all the resources in the world to get something that fits, and it’s still extremely difficult.”
Don’t we know it.
For women, in particular, it’s incredibly hard to find clothes that fit, since everything is made so different.
“So I feel for everyone who’s still trying to find things that fit them,” she said .
“I always think about the fact that if these clothes came in my size, I would be out here doing even more.”
It’s remarkable to think that someone as talented as Barbie may have yet to unlock their full potential due to the clothes that society affords them to wear.
It’s even more exciting to think that when the day finally arrives that our perceptions and fashion horizons expand — that a woman like Barbie will be unstoppable.
If we’ve seen anything so far on Euphoria it is that she certainly knows how to steal the show. I, personally, can’t wait to see what she does next.
