Written by: Brittany Wong
Published by: Huffpost
Dealing with treatment for chronic illness is hard enough without people commenting on your body, too.
Last month, pop star and actor Selena Gomez posted a video where she explained that the medication she takes for lupus causes her weight to fluctuate.
Speaking on TikTok Live, the 30-year-old responded to those bodyshaming her online by saying: “When I’m taking it, I tend to hold a lot of water weight, and that happens very normally. When I’m off of it, I tend to kind of lose weight.” The “Only Murders in the Building” star added that she’s “not a model” and “never will be.”
In a podcast interview in 2019, Gomez talked generally about her medication and how disarming it can be to have people commenting about her face swelling or changes to her body.
For those who’ve experienced weight fluctuation as a side effect of a medication, it’s been painful to watch Gomez not only endure criticism for her weight gain but also feel as though she has to answer for it.
The toxic messaging that’s sent when someone as high-profile as Gomez gets bullied and feels obligated to explain her weight gain is clear: our worth is tethered to our appearance.
Remind yourself that bodies are meant to be functional, allowing us to do so many wonderful things, said Holly Willis, a nurse practitioner at the eating disorder treatment center The Renfrew Center in Atlanta.
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