Paparazzi photos are Hilary Duff’s bread and butter, especially when she’s on vacation. She must be able to deduct her vacations as a business expense given how much she posts about them on social media and how often she gets papped on the beach. (She may need the write off too, considering that her home was recently burglarized while she was away in Canada.) So she knows the deal and she knows that trolls on Instagram as well as magazines and other sites are going to use her as an example for their “see, stars are normal!” stories. I’m not saying it’s right, just that it happens and she knows about it. Tabloids aren’t as obnoxious about it as they used to be, and they often praise her for being so fit and strong. We didn’t get the tabloids this week so I’m not sure which publication or blog she’s referring to here, but Hilary recently posted this photo (below) to Instagram defending herself against criticism. This is from a recent trip she took to Maui, right after she got back from Canada. Must be nice. Hilary’s message is the kind of “rah, rah let’s be proud of our bodies” post that gets her press, and she knows it. I mean she’s absolutely right about this issue but she has more than one agenda here. Sites are running headlines claiming that Hilary is calling out body shamers, but I’m reading this like she’s calling out the blogs and tabloids more specifically. Here’s what Hilary posted:
She looks great and has an enviable figure. I thought most of us had minor stretch marks like this and cellulite (not that she has any that I can see here). This is the effect of the very harsh lighting. This isn’t the first time Hilary has posted about body image. In February she put up a photo lounging in bed in her underwear and a t-shirt. Her legs are bent at the knee with one raised, and she wrote, in part “I’ve learned to love and celebrate myself, just as I am. I began to realize that my legs are STRONG and they carry me every. single. day.” That post was sponsored by the lingerie brand Aerie incidentally, although this one doesn’t seem to be a paid post. She has a similar message here about how her body is functional and is working well for her. I haven’t ever thought of it that way, but I’ve had health problems in my life and I try to be grateful when I feel well and when everything seems to working as it should. That’s a nice way to consider your body and your shape – that it’s working for you and that you can be thankful for that. These type of posts are also working to help Hilary keep her name in the press.
Photos credit: Backgrid and WENN
I mean… good for her? Though how much praise can we give her for ‘accepting’ her perfectly nice body. It’s not like the girl is some sort of mess – she’s pretty fit and just has some unfortunate photos out there that don’t make her look as good as she usually does? She’s thin, but strong and is only 29 years old.
She likes/needs the attention though. She had a super popular tween/teen show and a kind of mediocre-at-best singing career… and I guess has a show out now? But it’s not like people are sitting around desperately wondering what HIlary is up to.
She benefits so much from these sorts of things. She’s going to be lauded with praise for accepting her great body, she’s going to be adored for ‘getting ahead’ of the story, but most of all she’s building a brand/message and making sure she’s being talked about.
She gets really slammed about her body on the Daily Mail,anyway. Calling her flabby, etc. Personally I think she looks great.
She does have a show now called “Younger” with Sutton Foster and I love Hillary Duff’s character in it. I’ve followed her for years because I grew up with her on Lizzie McGuire, so I do have to admit I have a soft spot for her.
I know that the message is a good one regardless, but it really bugs me when celebrities preach body acceptance — or any ‘trendy’ message — for publicity. The thirst is so incredibly off-putting.
Also, Duff’s message is weakened (imo) by the fact that she has had her fair share of cosmetic tweaks to her face.
Idea for Reality Show: Kylie Jenner moves next door to Hilary Duff and learns from her.
What flaws? I don’t see any flaws at all. She has a great body and she’s beautiful to boot.
What is a body flaw, btw? I am only half-ironic here.
Is it fair to throw shade at her for posting about body acceptance to get media attention in the same article which you’re giving her that media attention?
No hate, just asking. For me it’s like *shrug,* both sides are playing the game. And there’s not really a downside to someone going out there and saying “hey, I love me.” If it inspires more acceptance, I’m for it.
Yeah, she has an enviable bod by any normal standards, but that’s not the point. The Internet unleashed a troll backlash, creepy dark souls living in their mother’s basement, who have nothing but time to post comments that basically criticize women for being human.
I’ve seen the comments about her body on various websites and Twitter and they were so nasty that I believe her post is genuine and not just another attention grab this time. Of course – she benefits from this, but it must be awful to read so many negative things about yourself. Trolls were saying i.e. that she shouldn’t be wearing bikinis, that she let herself go and that she has no excuse for being “this fat” five years after giving birth, that with her money she should look like a supermodel and not have tree-trunk tights and cellulite etc.
It doesn’t matter how you look like, there are always people who will find your flaws – I’m sure it would take 10 seconds to find a bunch of negative comments even about Doutzen Kroes or Charlize Theron’s bodies.
Actually there is something I noticed about Doetzen Kroes some time ago, my comment is not meant to body-shame her, but refer to the pressure women in the industry must feel every day re their bodies. Even one of the fabulous VS models (not that all of them are). I was watching this VS workout/advertising videos, she was in one of them, it was shot after she had her second child. Again, I am not body-shaming her. I was surprised at how skinny she was, she had muscles, but was very, very skinny, her head looked so big, she looked very uncomfortable on camera, usually she is quite bubbly so her attitude really stroke me. I figured *somebody* asked her to lose the weight and she over did it. If a model her caliber can’t command some kind of autonomy re her weight – it was her not-skinny figure that made her look so gorgeous, including her face, then what?
This is not a negative comment towards Doutzen, but it is a negative comment towards the industry.
Yeah, I saw some of the comments on some of the photos and they were downright mean. I really appreciate that Hillary doesn’t fit into the typically Hollywood body-mold.
If her target market is me (and as a 30 year old mom, I would say it probably is) then she’s totally saying/doing the right things. I most definitely don’t look like I did pre-baby, and now I’m preggo with #2. It’s nice to see a celebrity whose experience is more similar to my own, rather than another one touting green juice and 2 hour workouts as how they managed to fit back into their pre-pregnancy jeans 4 weeks after birth. It makes me identify with her a lot more.
I think the happiest people are the ones who aren’t constantly googling themselves to see what others think of them… I really don’t get it..