Gen Z Is Having A Hard Time Believing Celebs Like Kim Kardashian And LisaRaye Were Considered "Thick" In The '00s, So Lizzo Shared This Important Message
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
If you're a millennial, you know that the '90s and '00s were toxic times for women and their body image.
The media was consistently scrutinizing women over their bodies, and there were unhealthy diet trends being shoved in their faces every day.
If any Gen Z are wondering why every Millennial woman has an eating disorder it’s because in the 2000s a normal thing to say to a teenage girl was “when you think you feel hungry, youre actually thirsty so just drink water and you’ll be fine.”
— Lucy Huber (@clhubes) May 19, 2021
Twitter user @Whitleysdaughtr recently reminded people just how toxic the conversation was in this thread detailing women who were considered "thick" in the '00s:
Another reminder of the women we considered “thick” in the 2000s. pic.twitter.com/LEGWLSmWPT
— Whitley (@Whitleysdaughtr) May 10, 2023
It is so outlandish to refer to someone like LisaRaye as "thick" that some of the younger generation don't believe it actually happened.
JLo had people going crazy over what would be considered a teaspoon of ass these days😂 The standards of thick have definitely evolved. pic.twitter.com/Oap2rzRe8v
— Whitley (@Whitleysdaughtr) May 11, 2023
Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic
Kim Kardashian is another example of a celebrity who was referred to as "thick."
Kim Kardashian in early 2000s when she became popular because everyone was in awe of a “thick,” White woman😂 pic.twitter.com/rTHbI3TQOf
— Whitley (@Whitleysdaughtr) May 11, 2023
Mark Sullivan / WireImage
When Jordan Sparks lost weight, people praised her. Referencing Jordan Sparks' weight loss in 2012, one article even said she had "always been a chunky girl."
Jordan Sparks is a perfect example of a person who was considered fat during that time. When her and Raven Symone loss weight many people, yes even Black, cheered! Mediatakeout was one of the sites that made it a huge deal. pic.twitter.com/qm4PsvttaY
— Whitley (@Whitleysdaughtr) May 11, 2023
2008 Paul Smith / Featureflash via Alamy
It's truly sad to look back and know that celebs like Beyoncé, Jessica Simpson, and Kelly Clarkson were labeled "big" in this era.
So sad, in fact, that many Gen Z'ers couldn't comprehend that it even happened...
They’re looking at it from 2023 lenses and don’t remember the past. They can acknowledge that skinny was very much in, but can’t believe slimmer women with bigger butts and breast were considered thick.
— Whitley (@Whitleysdaughtr) May 11, 2023
Tyra Banks Show / Fox
So Lizzo came across the thread and shared her thoughts:
@lizzo FUN FACT: EVERYBODY IS A BODY✨
♬ original sound - lizzo
"So right now there's a thread on Twitter. A reminder of the women we used to consider thick in the 2000s and this is LisaRaye. As you know, LisaRaye is beautiful. In the early 2000s, she was considered the definition of thick," Lizzo starts.
"Another one of our 2000s thick icons is J.Lo, whose booty was super duper duper praised for being juicy and big and thick and dump-truckish."
"However, I noticed in the comments that people don't believe these tweets. There are people who are like, 'You just be saying anything. This isn't true. This isn't thick.' And it's important to note that a lot of these people were not born yet. Or they were babies in this era," she continued on TikTok.
"I'm not here to convince you that beauty standards were different. And I'm not here to convince you that this was considered fat in the early 2000s and that this beautiful body was considered unhealthy in the early 2000s."
"What I am here to do is just remark on how quickly the conversation in culture can change. All it takes is 20 years to completely erase an idea, a thought, a pattern, a behavior, and the way we treat people. The way we talk about people."
"It doesn't take much to reshift a narrative and to change a paradigm. Being an early pioneer in the body-positive movement and watching you evolve to body neutrality is humbling. It's an honor. Watching the definition of thick go from J.Lo to Beyoncé to Tacarra to Precious Lee has been a dream to watch."
Lizzo concluded, saying, "This is a reminder that there's always going to be a new conversation. There's always going to be a new fight, and every movement offsets the next movement. The status quo is meant to be pushed, it's meant to be evolved. So, if you feel like the outlier, or if you feel like you're not like everybody else, keep being yourself and watch the world catch up with you."
