Like many in the public eye, Sam Smith has struggled with body image as we have seen him fluctuate in weight throughout his career. The Brit with the silky smooth voice has always been very cautious about finding the right angle and the correct lighting so that his followers and fans see him in the best way possible. This constant resonates with many in the LGBTQ+ community. Body image and self-love/appreciation is something that we grapple with because of the pressures society places on us to be perfect.
Sam Smith posted an honest photo of himself on Instagram today where he explains that he is done battling the desire for perfection and he is on the path to accepting himself for the way he is. In his post, Sam says:
In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down. Yesterday I decided to fight the fuck back. Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally. Some may take this as narcissistic and showing off but if you knew how much courage it took to do this and the body trauma I have experienced as a kid you wouldn’t think those things. Thank you for helping me celebrate my body AS IT IS @ryanpfluger I have never felt safer than I did with you. I’ll always be at war with this bloody mirror but this shoot and this day was a step in the right fucking direction.
Over the last year we have also gotten to know Sam’s feminine side with posts of him slaying in heels and reminding us that gender is construct with barriers that we should tear down by challenging the way people see us.
