Lili Reinhart just got real about body image in a candid confession to fans

It’s hard to single out just one reason why we love Lili Reinhart (talent, brains, great taste in memes, etc.) but if we had to, it’d be her honesty. Reinhart, despite being a notable public figure (AKA global superstar), never shies away from the tougher issues.

She’s been an open book on her cystic acne journey, highlighting that not only does she, yes, have a real face with the ability to produce blemishes (perish the thought, right?) but she experiences the same self-doubt that we all do.

Said self-doubt generally stems from feeling the need to look like the ideal of ‘perfect’ we’ve been taught to try and live up to. It’s an issue everywhere, but there’s no doubt it’s even further amplified in Hollywood.

Well, Reinhart just got real (via a candidly honest series of Instagram Stories) about one specific area of societal pressure: body image. “I’ve been struggling with obsessive thoughts about my body/weight the last few months and it’s gotten pretty severe in the last week,” she explained to followers. “So I want to take a moment to be vulnerable and share this in the hope that any of you who are also struggling don’t feel so alone.”

“I’m here with you. It’s challenging to look at your body with love instead of criticism. It’s a practice I’m still learning. I didn’t think being in this industry, which is so obsessed with women’s bodies and weights, could ever mess with my own body acceptance and positivity, but it has. I wish I hadn’t grown up in a time where the media worshipped only one size of women.”

She went on to share how she wishes she could appreciate her body for what it’s done for her over its physical appearance. “My body has carried me through 25 years of life. All my scars, tears, trauma… I wish I could love it more, even when it doesn’t look like it did when I was 20. But I’m trying. I know my body deserves equal love and admiration at any size.”

“To not feel at home in my own skin is a devastating feeling. As if my body has betrayed me by changing. I’ve looked in the mirror and pulled my skin back tight tot see what I *should* look like. What I’m expected to look like… in an industry where you’re -inconvenient- when not a sample size.”

But while Reinhart is well aware she’s not alone in feeling this way, she finds that fact more concerning than comforting. “It’s painful to think hundreds of millions of us are so concerned with what our bodies look like. That’s an incredibly broken system. Somewhere along the line, humanity really f*cked this one up,” she added, alongside a photo of a “quick example of an Ancient Greek statue of Aphrodite”. Just a reminder of the more reasonable beauty standards that once were.

“I know I’m not alone in this toxic way of thinking about my body. And it’s heartbreaking that this feeling is understood by so many of us. Let’s continue to talk about it. Normalise it. Empathise with others. Show compassion and kindness.”

We agree; be kind to others, and be kind to yourself. You're more than your body, and your body is more than what it looks like, but for the record, we're sure you look amazing.

'Looking amazing' is precisely what Reinhart was doing at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, but she later took to TikTok to share (in a humorous TikTok sound type of way) that sometimes even the most convincing confidence is an act. To paraphrase Rihanna, on the days you don't feel confident, there's nothing wrong with pretending.

Main image credit: Getty Images

Reinhart isn't the only one to open up about body image; Abbie Chatfield also shared her own experience...