Billie Eilish Uses World Tour As Platform To Address Body Shamers

Since first appearing in the spotlight, Billie Eilish hasn’t shied away from the constant scrutiny she faces as a young woman in the music industry. At the first stop in Miami for her “Where Do We Go? World Tour” on Monday, Eilish once again shut down body shamers.

“If I wear more, if I wear less, who decides what that makes me? What that means?” she said. “Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?”

Her fans were treated to a three-minute video of 18-year-old Eilish appearing first in her typical oversized clothing style before stripping down to only her bra, according to Rolling Stone. In the video, Eilish’s voice is heard addressing some of the contradictory criticisms she faces daily.

“If what I wear is comfortable, I am not a woman,” she said. “If I shed the layers, I am a slut.”

Eilish has consistently spoken on her decision to wear baggy clothing, revealing in a May 2019 Calvin Klein ad that she dresses the way she does to avoid criticism and comments focused on her body. At the time, she said the public can’t have an opinion if “they haven’t seen what’s underneath.”

“I never want the world to know everything about me,” she said. “Nobody can be like, ‘she’s slim-thick,’ ‘she’s not slim-thick,’ ‘she’s got a flat [expletive],’ ‘she’s got a fat [expletive].”

Eilish was thrust into the limelight as a young teen, and has since had to deal with both the positives and repercussions that come with having so much influence. She told V Magazine in August 2019 that sometimes even positive comments about her clothing seem to have a negative undertone.

“[Even] from my parents, [the] positive [comments] about how I dress have this slut-shaming element,” she said. “Like, ‘I am so glad that you are dressing like a boy, so that other girls can dress like boys, so that they aren’t sluts.’ That’s basically what it sounds like to me.”

Eilish’s “Where Do We Go? World Tour” ends Sept. 7 in Indonesia, according to her official tour site.