Music

“You Can Kiss It”: Lizzo Responds To Fatphobia Debate Around Her NBA Outfit

"I don’t ever want to censor myself… I’m not going to shrink myself because somebody thinks that I’m not sexy to them."

by Michelle Rennex  11 December 2019
Lizzo Outfit Double Standards

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Lizzo recently attended an NBA game in a dress that, well, frankly, fully exposed her ass.

The Detroit native is no stranger to risqué outfits, embracing her body or baring her ass. But Lizzo took it one step further at the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game, where she wore a black dress with a cut out that put her black g-string on show.

During halftime, the Laker girls danced a routine to Lizzo’s track ‘Juice’, which had her and the crowd hyped up. In typical Lizzo-fashion, the icon stood up an started twerking along with the beat which revealed her ass to viewers on the jumbotron.

Following the game, Lizzo uploaded an Instagram Story that started online debate over whether the ensemble was appropriate for the event. Mimicking Nicki Minaj’s Prague meme, Lizzo laughed: “This is how a bad bitch goes to a Lakers game. You bitches can’t even spell Minnesota!”

The story was shared onto Twitter where someone compared her to Rikishi, a Samoan WWE heavyweight wrestler known for his costume and signature move, The Stink Face. Rikishi wore a pair of black bottoms hiked so far up his bottom that they resembled a g-string.

So, Is It Fatphobia Or The Children?

This act and her outfit sparked outrage amongst people online who believed that Lizzo went too far with her outfit. Those who disagreed with Lizzo’s choices cited the fact that the NBA games are events with families and children in attendance.

But others pointed out the obvious double standard towards Lizzo because of her body type, sharing images of slimmer celebrities in equally revealing outfits. “Is she not considered a ‘bad bitch’ because she’s plus size?,” one person tweeted. “Stop being dishonest and just say that you don’t like it because she’s fat, not because her outfit is ‘revealing’,” said another.

The debate continued with those unhappy with Lizzo’s dress standing their crowd and claiming that a dislike of indecency does not make someone fatphobic. Those against the look then claimed that regardless of body type, the outfit was simply inappropriate for the game.

The Hypocrisy Of It All

Each NBA game has scantily clad cheerleaders perform during halftime, so the argument of Lizzo’s “indecency” was called out as a double standard. The claims of outfits at NBA games needing to be “family-friendly” and “appropriate” were contradicted as people began to share photos of groups of slim dancers in similar costumes.

Others continued that it isn’t Lizzo’s responsibility to think about what children may or may not see — especially at an event where they’re guaranteed to see exposed bodies during these halftime dance routines.

Some even shared instances where slimmer celebrities attended NBA games dressed “indecently” without critique.

This discussion managed to start a wider conversation about the issue of double standards regarding women with different body types. Continuing the point of hypocrisy, @ezayur tweeted an image of Lizzo and Nicki Minaj in similar outfits and highlighted that Lizzo was bashed for her post at the time while Nicki wasn’t.

Lizzo’s Thoughts On Everything

After Twitter lit up with thoughts and opinions on her outfit, Lizzo shared her inspiration — Rihanna’s Swarovski-covered Grammy’s dress. This dress was known for being extremely revealing to the point where Rihanna had to famously ask whether her “tits bother[ed]” a reporter.

But even after providing her inspiration and an example of another celebrity in a revealing outfit, people still found issue with Lizzo’s dress. They shared that Rihanna’s outfit was appropriate for the event, and that Rihanna dresses down for basketball games.

So Lizzo chose to address all the buzz about her choices in an Instagram Live, where she continued to unapologetically be herself.

Lizzo shared that she doesn’t really give any attention to criticism or to what is said about her on the internet. “Your criticism has no effect on me,” she said. “You don’t have to be like me. You need to be like you.” She continued, “Negative criticism has no stake in my life, no control over my life, over my emotions. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, I’m surrounded by love.”

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Lizzo explained that even though her body is non-conventional, she doesn’t plan on censoring herself anytime soon. “I don’t ever want to censor myself… I’m not going to shrink myself because somebody thinks that I’m not sexy to them,” she said.

“I’m a really solid, grounded person, and I know that I’m shocking because you’ve never seen — in a long time — a body like mine doing whatever it wants to do and dressing the way that it dresses and moving the way that it moves.”

Ending her Live with a message to all those who found issue with her outfit and her body, Lizzo said: “I just wanna spread that love and also spread these cheeks… and you know what? If you really don’t like my ass, you can kiss it.”