Lady Gaga has been the queen of self-acceptance goals since she first burst onto the music scene. With vibrant make-up and hair, fun outfits, and feel-good lyrics, she made us love her and want to be her. She even promoted acceptance of yourself and others through her songs, such as Born This Way.
At the Super Bowl on Sunday, Lady Gaga gave us theatrics, incredible talent, and some of our favorite pop songs. She brought the house down without having to bring out a surprise guest. In the midst of all her praise, however, were negative comments on how her stomach looked in her crop top outfit.
It is astounding that even after such an amazing performance, all that some people could focus on is the fact that Lady Gaga did not have an 8-pack. Instead of thinking about how Lady Gaga just had the endurance to sing, dance, and jump from the top of the dome during her performance, critics called her out of shape. This is unacceptable.
By commenting on Lady Gaga's stomach, people are not only demeaning her, but they are encouraging harmful body behaviors. We should be praising Lady Gaga for loving her body the way it is and not feeling pressured to cover up, just because she doesn't have a runway model's body type. In many countries, less toned stomachs are seen as a sign of beauty, because it means that you eat well.
Celebrities took to social media to show their support of Lady Gaga and body positivity by tweeting heartfelt messages and pictures of their own bodies. Everyone has their own unique body. Being in shape does not mean that you need to have a tiny waist and rock hard abs. The ability to sing and dance with as much talent as Lady Gaga, requires a lot more skill and hardwork than solely training to achieve body tone.
Lady Gaga had the final word when she took to Instagram to respond to all the negativity. "I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too." Let's all listen to Lady Gaga and stop making bodies a topic of conversation. We are all more than the size of our stomach.
We should be celebrating and praising the talent of such a strong and inspirational woman. Not only does she rock every performance she has, but she also spends her time promoting safe spaces in the world through outlets such as her "Born This Way Foundation." Let's make 2017 the year of positive comments and less body shame.