Billie Eilish has spoken out against the sexualisation she has faced throughout her career – read what she had to say below.
Speaking to Variety for a new feature interview, Eilish spoke of the struggles she’s faced with sexualisation in her career. Eilish – now 21 years old – got her start in the industry in at the age of 13, when ‘Ocean Eyes’ went viral on SoundCloud.
Over the course of the next 8 years, Eilish would enjoy and unparalleled rise to fame – which came with its own collection of setbacks. As a teenager and young adult, Eilish chose to deck herself in baggy clothes, to avoid being subject to sexualisation, though her modesty only led more people to question what her physique is like.
“I wasn’t trying to have people not sexualize me,” she explained to Variety. “But I didn’t want people to have access to my body, even visually. I wasn’t strong enough and secure enough to show it. If I had shown it at that time, I would have been completely devastated if people had said anything.”
She went on to explain: “I have big boobs. I’ve had big boobs since I was nine years old, and that’s just the way I am. That’s how I look. You wear something that’s at all revealing, and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, but you didn’t want people to sexualize you?’”
Eilish shared an emphatic message to those people trying to tear her down: “You can suck my ass! I’m literally a being that is sexual sometimes. Fuck you!”
She would go on to call out out double standards when it comes to men’s bodies: “Nobody ever says a thing about men’s bodies. If you’re muscular, cool. If you’re not, cool. If you’re rail thin, cool. If you have a dad bod, cool. If you’re pudgy, love it! Everybody’s happy with it. You know why? Because girls are nice. They don’t give a fuck because we see people for who they are!”
In a similar vein, Eilish spoke about the lewd lyrics about her body that Lil Yachty raps on Drake‘s track ‘Another Late Night’. The song – featured on Drake’s eighth studio album ‘For All The Dogs‘ – sees Lil Yachty rap “She had big tits like Billie Eilish but she couldn’t sing (Drip).”
Eilish, who has been very vocal about her body image, addressed the line. “I think it’s fun! I’m flattered! Yachty is my friend. Drake is my friend. It’s a joke. I do have big tits. I love it,” she told Variety.
In other news, Eilish has scored six nominations at the 67th annual Grammy Awards. The nominations include Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Song Written For Visual Media and Best Music Video.
