Tracee Ellis Ross stripped down to her underwear in a theater for her 40th birthday

wenn33826626
My 45th birthday was this week. I was feeling obligated to celebrate so I decided to set it to private on Facebook and go low key. It worked! I had a nice night out, no one made a big fuss over me, and I got to do it my way. Tracee Ellis Ross is also 45 and doing her own thing. She recently told People Magazine that she feels her most beautiful at this age, even if she doesn’t look her most beautiful (her words and I disagree). She also revealed that, for her 40th birthday, she did a body acceptance exercise where she stripped down to her bra and underwear in front of a theater full of her friends and talked about the body parts that she most disliked. That would be intimidating as hell to me, but it worked for her. She said that she still sees her underarm skin and the skin around her knees as “different” now but she’s ok with that.

For her 40th birthday celebration five years ago, [Tracee Ellis Ross] rented out a theater, filled it with her friends and undressed down to her bra and underwear. She then pointed out the bodily features she disliked.

“I felt like I needed to embrace those parts, and love those parts of me because they were all a part of me and they were beautiful and I have a lot of pride in it,” Ross explained at Chico’s #HowBoldAreYou event at Joe’s Pub in N.Y.C. on Monday night.

Now at age 45, Ross said that she feels “the sexiest and the most beautiful that I’ve ever felt.”

“I don’t say I look my most beautiful, I FEEL my most beautiful and that’s what’s really important to me and I talk a lot about it.”

There are still body parts that stick out for Ross, but she now just recognizes them as “different.”

“Let’s talk about certain things that are confusing at this age,” she said jokingly. “My underarms and the skin around my knees. These are the only complaints I have and they’re not complaints but it’s different, the skin is very different.”

Pointing to her underarms, she added: “What’s happening in this area? It’s fascinating isn’t it? Because the bra is meant to cover this bit but there’s another bit, bit, there’s a whole other bit.”

But Ross said she has finally become the woman she wanted to be as a child.

“You know as a young girl, I had this woman that I dreamt of being, right? And I had her in my head and I would play around with being her in my bedroom and with certain people, but the gift of age is that you actually get to have the boldness and the courage to be that woman, to be that person and I’m experiencing it now and some of the things I’ve discovered in knowing myself is that I actually like myself,” she said.

[From People]

I found that last paragraph empowering, where she talked about becoming the woman she imagined as a child. I never thought of it that way but it’s true that with age I care less about what other people think and am more inclined to be myself. It’s also true that those flaps under my arms bug me but I’ve never noticed my knee skin! Now I’m going to be looking at that like it’s weird. Could you strip down to your underwear in front of all your friends and family just to discuss your flaws? I don’t even want them to make a fuss over my birthday. My body parts are not up for discussion.

Embed from Getty Images

Here she is with Molly Ringwald. Those boots!
Embed from Getty Images

wenn33824350

photos credit: WENN and Getty

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

24 Responses to “Tracee Ellis Ross stripped down to her underwear in a theater for her 40th birthday”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Nicegirl says:

    I love Tracee.

  2. Rumi says:

    She is sexy and smart. I love her fashion sense and Blackish.
    Self Love is so important, it takes a while to get there.

  3. tracking says:

    That is an unusual way to celebrate 40, but more power to her. Whatever it takes to get to a place of self-acceptance, I suppose.

  4. heh says:

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FELLOW PISCES!!!! @Celecitchy

  5. Runcmc says:

    I mean good for her if she needed to do that, but I think it’s really strange. Like I would be weirded out if a friend invited me to that. “You want me to sit in an audience and watch you talk about your body while you’re in underwear? Um… I’ll just send a gift thanks.”

    • Maria F. says:

      🙂 I totally agree. I would not do it and i would not want to be part of it.

    • T.Fanty says:

      Yeah, my friends would say “ummm, no thanks.”

      I love her, but that is the most actorly thing anybody has done. Ever.

    • Astrid says:

      I wouldn’t want to be part of such a celebration

    • Natalie S says:

      My friends would chime in and roast me. They’d be like, “Well, you started it.”

    • Pandy says:

      Seriously odd thing to do! Way to hate on yourself.

    • Snazzy says:

      This is seriously so actorly as T.Fanty said above. I mean WTF. I wouldn’t do that and I wouldn’t go if my friends asked me to. Let me just buy you a spa gift certificate instead

  6. Frizzy and frazzled says:

    It’s so unfortunate how we cut ourselves into parts and worry over if they are attractive or not. I had Hoda and Kathy Lee on the other day and they were talking about butt shapes and they had these diagrams, and they were lauding the heart shaped butt and literally laughing over the flat one. Of course we know certain figures are considered more attractive but it was so disheartening to see it reinforced by adult women who should know better. What Tracee did was the entire opposite of that and i applaud her.

  7. Mumzy says:

    She’s a very talented actor and her show is one of the best on television. That said…I’ve got a 50th this year and despite being physically “flawed” by today’s standards, I can’t inagine spending that much time focusing on my own body. I’m concerned about how I am spending my time on earth and how to be of better service to others …”small”things that hopefully will create ripples in lives long past when mine is done. I’m worried I’m not doing what I should be doing to fulfill my “purpose” — whatever that is. My physical self will not matter in the end.

  8. Katinka says:

    Uhm that does not sound like good entertainment for her poor friends, though!?

  9. Cher says:

    Happy Birthday fellow March born.

  10. BitingPanda says:

    I very nearly worship her. She is just that fabulous.
    However, I never understand her selection in footwear.

  11. Truthful says:

    I love her! And she is the very essence of fabulousness.

    But I thought she was way much older than 45.
    But whatever still fabulous Not matter what::)

  12. PowerPoint says:

    Why must some women equate showing their ass as empowerment?

  13. Jaded says:

    I think she’s a wonderful actor and her bit on Kimmel about the Handsy Man had me in stitches but the stuff about her body? That’s bordering on self-obsession. Lemme tell you all…I’m 65 and had breast cancer a couple of years ago. A big chunk of my breast was removed, and I had great knockers if I do say so myself so it was kind of traumatic. Then I had surgery to repair the chunk taken out with a chunk they took from my abdomen and then the other breast had to be lifted to match the newly re-purposed one. Long story short I now look like Frankenboob and I couldn’t care less. Neither does Mr. Jaded, he loves me scars and all. Bodies change as you age and that’s a fact, however a healthy diet, exercise, good friends and a positive mental attitude make you beautiful no matter what scars, inner and outer, you may have gathered over the course of a lifetime.

    • Wilder says:

      I. Love. You.

    • ChillyWilly says:

      Jaded, so wonderfully well said! The important thing is you beat that cancer! You are alive and enjoying life! And a real man (like Mr. Jaded!!) doesn’t give a crap about Frankenboob or baggy knees! Love and sex are about so much more than youth and beauty.

    • Fhmom says:

      I wish I knew you in real life.