Sam Smith for PERFECT Magazine

[Ladle Ghoulash 16,451]

1 minute ago, alsemanche said:

I still think the whole styling and aesthetic is not good and most of it feels forced (but that's just my personal opinion and has nothing to do with Sam as a person) but I'm happy that they haven't stopped being themselves and expressing whatever they choose to express despite all the backlash. Good for them honestly. 

Pretty much feel the same way. I appreciate the intention, but I don't really enjoy Sam's styling/aesthetic overall. 

[VOLANTIS 16,306]

4 hours ago, HighwayFantasy said:

I really don't get this. It's nice for him that he is comfortable in your plus size body, but why exaggerate it in your whole identity and image? It's so forced and tiring. 

 

4 hours ago, MessyTop said:

This. like,  We get it.

Place Lady Gaga in place of Sam Smith and LGBTQ+ rights in place of body image. Now do you hear yourselves? 

[Healed My Heart 39,510]

2 hours ago, Fuffy said:

Not the poster you're replying to but I'm 100% open to getting people's takes and perspectives on this. I'm torn on this but I'm here to learn and challenge my initial views. If I cause anyone any offense with my comments, that's not my intention and I apologize if so.

I personally don't feel frustrated by this and think people that get confrontational about this likely have some hidden disgust or phobia because its defying their expectation of beauty. 

My only concern is with the wider trend of normalizing overweight bodies and body fat for the individual and public's health. I'm a borderline type 2 diabetic which my doctor believe was a combo of being genetically prone to it and being slightly overweight when I was teen set it off, which is apparently common. I was probably the same weight as Sam, if not slightly slimmer, and if I had stayed at a normal body fat %, I likely would have had another few decades without the issue cropping up. I'm now in great shape but this borderline diabetes has fired off other chronic illness that have drastically reduced my quality of life. It's too late to make changes that could have let me live how I wanted to live.

I blame myself for my health as I should have been vigilant of my body fat but wished I'd have known about its negative consequences when I was younger. 

So when I see these images like this I get mixed feelings. I love that they're fun and artsy, tipping conventionalism on its head as being underweight is equally unhealthy and beauty standards are unrealistic.

But I also fear that people will become complacent with health and that it signals we can't talk about reducing body fat without it causing offense or being censored. Though I absolutely don't think people should be shamed or negatively treated because of their weight. 

I'm glad that you were able to reduce your weight when you felt that was the right move for your personal health. However, this does not give you the right to judge anyone else's journey with their weight and/or health.

Fat people can be healthy and skinny people can be unhealthy. You cannot tell the status of someone's health by simply looking at them, nor should you try.

It is not "glorifying obesity" (not your words, but usually what is said with this type of argument) to represent different body types and weights in media.

Is there somewhere in the interview that Sam said, "Everyone should go gain weight! It's great for your health!"? Of course not. All they're doing is EXISTING in their body, and this is the kind of discourse that gets sparked.

There are a million reasons why someone might not be able to lose weight the way that you did - genetics, medication side effects, socioeconomic status, mental health issues, disability, the list goes on. Should those people never get to see themselves represented in media?

Many studies have shown that weight-shaming is ineffective, and actually potentially more damaging to someone's health than carrying extra weight. Weight is not the only determining factor in overall health. Feeling ashamed of your body can lead to disordered eating, chronic depression, anxiety - all of which we know are damaging to long-term health on their own. So is it helping anyone's health to contribute to that shame by saying their body types shouldn't be displayed in media?

I'm not saying this is what you were doing specifically - but far too much body shaming is thinly-veiled under arguments of "being concerned for someone's health." The issue is so much more complex than Sam showing their body on a magazine cover.

[Franch Toast 25,914]

I also just want to remind people that a larger body doesn't automatically equal "unhealthy," just as a smaller body doesn't necessarily equal "healthy." 

Some of the measures people go to to have thin bodies are actually extremely unhealthy (eating disorders, extreme diets, diet pills, cocaine, cigarettes, etc.). You can't necessarily discern a person's health from their weight. 

Edited to add: @Healed My Heartand I were posting at the same time, but her message is way more in-depth. Y'all should read it. 

 

[Flippy 11,724]

 

[COOOK 76,406]

1 hour ago, deactivated001 said:

Pretty much feel the same way. I appreciate the intention, but I don't really enjoy Sam's styling/aesthetic overall. 

I think in this case we should cut them some slack and continue to witness their evolution, it's a bit premature for people to disregard their style right now. Sometimes a clear, defining aesthetic requires a lot of trial and error, and it seems like they're still on that journey as they "recently" embraced themself to the max. 

[Fuffy 1,020]

6 minutes ago, Healed My Heart said:

I'm glad that you were able to reduce your weight when you felt that was the right move for your personal health. However, this does not give you the right to judge anyone else's journey with their weight and/or health.

Fat people can be healthy and skinny people can be unhealthy. You cannot tell the status of someone's health by simply looking at them, nor should you try.

It is not "glorifying obesity" (not your words, but usually what is said with this type of argument) to represent different body types and weights in media.

Is there somewhere in the interview that Sam said, "Everyone should go gain weight! It's great for your health!"? Of course not. All they're doing is EXISTING in their body, and this is the kind of discourse that gets sparked.

There are a million reasons why someone might not be able to lose weight the way that you did - genetics, medication side effects, socioeconomic status, mental health issues, disability, the list goes on. Should those people never get to see themselves represented in media?

Many studies have shown that weight-shaming is ineffective, and actually potentially more damaging to someone's health than carrying extra weight. Weight is not the only determining factor in overall health. Feeling ashamed of your body can lead to disordered eating, chronic depression, anxiety - all of which we know are damaging to long-term health on their own. So is it helping anyone's health to contribute to that shame by saying their body types shouldn't be displayed in media?

I'm not saying this is what you were doing specifically - but far too much body shaming is thinly-veiled under arguments of "being concerned for someone's health." The issue is so much more complex than Sam showing their body on a magazine cover.

Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate you patiently discussing this with me! I agree with you on a lot of what you've said. And you're right, negative mental health creates a vicious cycle of causing weight gain, including the medications to treat them. So that's why I'm against the shaming part.

I know it's hard to distinguish between people who say 'lose weight because I don't like it' versus 'aim to reach a healthy weight because I don't want you to get ill if you can change it'. But even that may come across a bit rude I suppose.

I just worry that if the obesity epidemic grows because people don't feel motivated to stay in a healthy weight, this is going to strain healthcare systems further and ironically make it harder for people who can't easily lose weight get access to services (e.g. medications, disabilities etc).

I do like how some brands are showing overweight people exercising/doing active things or making healthy decisions with diet, that's a positive and balanced thing to see. 

It's such a tricky topic to navigate. I guess we need a real societal overhaul to fix it.

[chromaticainmyhead 6,350]

5 hours ago, HighwayFantasy said:

Every red carpet, performance or imagery needs to be controversial around his body. Its repetitive and unoriginal imo.

lol... are you even aware you are a GAGA stan? Are you a stan? Or.... How could anyone feel connected to what she does and has done and write such negative comment about someone similar (who also takes big inspiration from Gaga) and feel in any way validated? Your comment could be literally a copy paste about Gaga from 2010 

[Healed My Heart 39,510]

1 minute ago, Fuffy said:

Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate you patiently discussing this with me! I agree with you on a lot of what you've said. And you're right, negative mental health creates a vicious cycle of causing weight gain, including the medications to treat them. So that's why I'm against the shaming part.

I know it's hard to distinguish between people who say 'lose weight because I don't like it' versus 'aim to reach a healthy weight because I don't want you to get ill if you can change it'. But even that may come across a bit rude I suppose.

I just worry that if the obesity epidemic grows because people don't feel motivated to stay in a healthy weight, this is going to strain healthcare systems further and ironically make it harder for people who can't easily lose weight get access to services (e.g. medications, disabilities etc).

I do like how some brands are showing overweight people exercising/doing active things or making healthy decisions with diet, that's a positive and balanced thing to see. 

It's such a tricky topic to navigate. I guess we need a real societal overhaul to fix it.

I guess I would challenge you to think about why weight is so disproportionately focused on if the biggest concern is actually just keeping people healthy and reducing the strain on the medical system.

For instance, why aren't people showing the same outrage at pop stars promoting alcohol brands, as they do with Sam showing their body? Alcohol has negative effects on our health and alcoholism is incredibly destructive. Gaga just did another endorsement for Dom Perignon and they're not the first alcohol brand she's promoted. But I've never seen anyone complain about it and show concern about the effect on public health -  rather, it's celebrated.

I would argue this is largely because our societal biases cause us to view alcohol as cool and trendy, and overweight people as unattractive.

[Luke78619 22,944]

Not people acting as if they’re shoving it down our throats 

like, if this thread wasn’t made, would you have even known about this photoshoot? 

you’d only hear about it from people moaning that “Sam smith is shoving this stuff down our throats all the time” 

if you don’t like it, or don’t like what they’re doing, then why click the thread honestly

[Chromatography 9,964]

i get what they’re going for but it’s a miss for me.

i know people **** on their body a lot, but that’s not the problem. i feel like they’re always wearing things 3 sizes too small on purpose which draws the criticism. like it has nothing to do with their body, everything to do with their stylist. the same for these pictures. everything is 3 or 4 sizes too small…i understand it’s to normalize “normal” bodies but it just comes off as yet again not picking the correct size.

[Ultimecia 6,025]

Never been a fan of their stuff, but honestly this is cool!

[chromaticainmyhead 6,350]

1 hour ago, Healed My Heart said:

I guess I would challenge you to think about why weight is so disproportionately focused on if the biggest concern is actually just keeping people healthy and reducing the strain on the medical system.

For instance, why aren't people showing the same outrage at pop stars promoting alcohol brands, as they do with Sam showing their body? Alcohol has negative effects on our health and alcoholism is incredibly destructive. Gaga just did another endorsement for Dom Perignon and they're not the first alcohol brand she's promoted. But I've never seen anyone complain about it and show concern about the effect on public health -  rather, it's celebrated.

I would argue this is largely because our societal biases cause us to view alcohol as cool and trendy, and overweight people as unattractive.

This. Louder for the people in the back!

[2School4Cool 5,990]

11 hours ago, HighwayFantasy said:

I really don't get this. It's nice for him that he is comfortable in your plus size body, but why exaggerate it in your whole identity and image? It's so forced and tiring. 

When people stop treating them differently and mocking them because of it then I’m sure they’d stop accentuating it in their art. It’s the same as when people say “I’m okay with gay people but why do they have to make it their whole personality.” When the world sees you and judges you for a part of who you are then of course you’re going to stand up and speak to that part of your identity that’s being judged. It’s not forced, it’s brave and empowering and I for one appreciate them 

[Chromatica Island 8,517]

4 hours ago, Franch Toast said:

Do some of you really not know Sam's pronouns are they/them by now? 

Exactly, I am not a big fan of theirs, but at least respect their pronouns.